Before I begin this column, which was written some time ago, a new and potentially dangerous situation has arisen at Antietam National Battlefield. Someone who owns land within the park boundary has applied to erect a statue on his land to honor his personal Civil War hero.

While this single statue poses a problem for its historical inaccuracy and interpretation, the greater issue is proliferation of similar "personal monuments"¬ù on any land within or adjacent to national battlefields.

Antietam National Battlefield has adopted a policy of moratorium on any new monuments, but cannot prevent this one as it is on private property. The land is covered by county zoning, including the Antietam Overlay Zone, which Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF) helped to create 20 years ago. All new structures must be approved by the Historic District Commission, which has turned down this proposal as inappropriate.

As Jerry Russell wrote, it was the first time he has agreed with a local zoning decision. The owner is appealing to the Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals, and SHAF asks everyone to write to them and support our position that Historic District Commission has made the correct judgment.

The hearing date is January 8, 2003, so please immediately write to Mr. Donald Spickler, Chairman of the Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals, 80 W. Baltimore St., Hagerstown MD 21740. Do it today, we need your support. If you can attend the meeting, which set for 7:p.m. at 100 W. Washington St. in Hagerstown and is open to the public, that will be help also.

It has been some time since SHAF has been in the headlines, but we continue to work tirelessly to keep Antietam Battlefield and its environs as the best preserved Civil War battle area in the United States.

The Sharpsburg area has been the recipient of a great deal of attention, and funding, from a variety of sources. In round numbers, the National Park Service boundary of roughly 3,100 acres contains most of the sites of the severe fighting at Antietam, and the state of Maryland has provided funding to secure protective easements for another 4,800 acres surrounding the NPS land.

A few isolated spots remain as potential threats, but for the most part the main aspects of America's bloodiest single day battle are secure. So why am I writing this column?

Because we have been successful, we have not quit working. Indeed, we have the luxury that few other groups have, we can select where we focus our efforts, and take on some unique projects.

In the past few years we have purchased and placed easements on the site of the signal tower photographed by Alexander Gardner in October of 1862. In March we will sponsor a hike to that site " check SHAF's website, shafon-line.org, for details. Not only is this purchase a worthy addition to the Maryland Campaign sites, but SHAF actually resold a portion of the land for more than we paid for it, a first among preservation groups!

We created a driving tour map of the Maryland Campaign that allows visitors to visit many out-of-the-way sites as well as the main battle areas. After a couple years in service, this tour is now being superceded by a Maryland extension of the Virginia Trails system. With waysides and pull-overs in progress, the trail will continue to attract visitors to Western Maryland.

After selling our land on the historic Grove Farm where Lincoln and McClellan posed for Gardner's camera, we purchased another portion so that we'd have standing in any activity in the area. We will soon have a place there for visitors to view the scene where this meeting took place.

We also are cooperating with some local folks to preserve a structure in Sharpsburg. Shortly after the Civil War a Freedman's Bureau school, which was later used as a church, was constructed on High Street in Sharpsburg. Abandoned for the last several years, SHAF has taken possession of the building is applying for grants to work on it. A new citizens group is being formed to take over the project, and when they are up and running we will donate the building to them.

As you can see, we have been blessed to be able to do pursue these unique ventures because Antietam is already so well protected. It is because of this happy situation that we have embarked on our latest and perhaps most visible task. We have requested to partner with the NPS and local utility companies to remove some of the obtrusive power lines running through the park.

Under the patient nurturing of Superintendent John Howard, Antietam is being restored to its 1862 appearance. New fencing, new trails, and restored landscapes have made Antietam closer to its wartime look than ever before.

The one glaring exception to this historic landscape is the utility lines spanning the park. Due to the various neighbors and nearby town of Sharpsburg, these lines cannot be eliminated, but can be buried. The prohibitive price has always put this project on the bottom of the NPS wish list.

SHAF has been in contact with the local utility company, to pursue what believe can be a wonderfully successful project. Just as we were investigating a partnership with the NPS and Allegheny Power the utility company suffered an Enron-related financial reverse. All plans are currently on hold, but look for this project to be revived in the future.

Tom Clemens teaches history at Hagerstown Community College. He is a co-founder and current president of Save Historic Antietam Foundation, and has been active in various Civil War activities for many years. SHAF may be contacted at P.O. Box 550, Sharpsbu