Bush Signs Harpers Ferry Boundary Expansion
By Deborah Fitts
November 2004

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - Sixteen years after he first warned Congress that important resources lay unprotected outside the boundary of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Superintendent Don Campbell was gratified Sept. 24 when President Bush signed into law legislation adding 1,240 acres of historic and scenic land.

The action, led by Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia (D), followed approval by the Senate in May and by the House Sept. 13. The addition will hike the size of the park from 2,505 acres to 3,745 acres.

"I feel good about having pursued this boundary expansion, working with everyone to bring it about, and protecting Harpers Ferry, a magnificent asset," said Campbell, who marked his 25th anniversary at the park this summer.

"People did not think the Murphy Farm would be developed, and now it's fully protected. People did not believe Schoolhouse Ridge would be protected, and now it is. It's just kind of neat that it's all come together. It leaves a nice legacy for those who will come on this land in the future and enjoy it for its history and beauty."

The 100-acre Murphy Farm on Bolivar Heights, slated for 188 homes, was acquired by the park in December 2002. Schoolhouse Ridge was long considered prime land for development.

Today's peaceful outcome might not have been predicted 10 years ago, when eager developers appeared unstoppable, and landowners were fearful that the park might seize their properties. "It was very divisive," Campbell recalled. He first raised the specter of development encroaching on the park in 1988, when Byrd was inquiring into park management. The park was nearing its mandatory acreage "ceiling," but Campbell argued that more land needed protection. A study the following year resulted in the proposed expansion, and soon developers and Civil War enthusiasts were at each other's throats.

But the tide eventually changed. In a watershed event in 1998, hundreds of people crowded into Jefferson County Courthouse, where John Brown was tried, and "spoke unanimously in favor of protecting this land," Campbell said. He attributed the change to alarm at development spilling over from rapidly growing Loudoun County, Va., next door

Still, to ensure virtually complete support throughout the local community, Byrd called on Campbell to conduct extensive outreach. By 2002 Campbell was able to show Congress that fully 94 percent of respondents to a park study supported the boundary expansion. In September 2003 Byrd introduced legislation to expand the boundary.

The new properties include 286 acres south of U.S. 340 that represents the right flank of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson's position when he laid siege to the federal garrison at Harpers Ferry in 1862. Since the land is now owned by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, it will transfer to the park "fairly quickly," Campbell said.

A 375-acre tract, donated by Robert and Emilene Werner, lies on the western slope of Loudoun Heights along the Appalachian Trail. Although there are no Civil War resources, Campbell said, it protects the Harpers Ferry skyline. The park has been administering this property since 1999.

Another section of 131 acres lies on Loudoun Heights and includes Confederate campsites from 1862. And 177 acres on Schoolhouse Ridge was purchased for the park by the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT).

A further 191 acres remains in private hands and Campbell said negotiations are under way for their purchase, most likely by private organizations for donation to the park. All purchases will be from willing sellers.

Paul Rosa, executive director of the Harpers Ferry Conservancy, cautioned that the new boundary would not assure protection. The Bank of Charles Town, W.Va., is proposing to build a branch on land inside the new boundary near the West Virginia Welcome Center on U.S. 340.

Rosa hailed the passage of the boundary bill, however, and attributed the success to a coalition of preservation and conservation groups and the work of Campbell and otherpark personnel. Other organizations that joined in the effort were CWPT, the National Parks Conservation Association, the National Park Trust, the NAACP, and the Trust for Public Land.

Campbell said the park would look to groups like the West Virginia Civilian Conservation Corps and AmeriCorps to build trails on the new properties.

While the expansion protects the Civil War view of Harpers Ferry, Campbell said private lands downstream along the Potomac River are vulnerable and development could threaten Jefferson's Rock, the view from which Thomas Jefferson praised.

Otherwise, Campbell said, "The public can feel good that anywhere you stand in Harpers Ferry and look around its skyline, you won't see houses, cell towers or hillsides logged off. All of that is protected by this legislation for all time, and all of the Civil War property that we've been worried about for so long will be protected."