If you look around you might notice that many people are interested in historic preservation. Of those, many are trying "" with varying success "" to save the relics of our past, locally and worldwide.

In Russia they are saving relics from the Tsar while in Greece and Rome tourists can see relics of the ancient civi-lizations. Just last fall I plopped my behind on the very same bench where William Shakespeare sat while wooing his soon-to-be wife Anne Hathaway. On that same trip I walked through the room where the Bard was born.
In Central America, ancient Mayan ruins are being saved and studied; Japan preserves its shrines, while China is unearthing and preserving its heritage. In France, prehistoric art in the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc cave is being preserved and studied. I could go on and on.

Here in the U.S. hundreds of groups are trying to save everything from swamps to buildings, to battlefields, to ar-tifacts, to...; you name it and someone is probably trying to save it if it appears endangered. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose.

Historic preservation here in America started in earnest with the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, the oldest preservation organization in the United States. This group formed in the mid-19th century to save George Washing-ton's home at Mount Vernon. Other organizations and individuals came together later to save such sites as Jeffer-son's Monticello and Williamsburg, while others were formed to preserve traditional American artifacts including Greenfield Village, the Henry Ford Museum, Shelburne Museum, Old Sturbridge Village and the Hagley Museum, to name just a few.

Of interest to The Civil War News readers, of course, are the efforts to save the land and associated struc-tures that were a part of the unpleasantness between 1861 and 1865.

This movement started with small splinter groups trying to save "battlefields" that were of especial interest to them or portions of battlefields that were not under the protection of the War Department (preservation at places like Gettysburg started soon after the smoke cleared) and later the National Park Service. These groups met with some local success, but on the national scale they often fell short.

In the 1980s a group of noted historians interested in Civil War battlefield preservation -"" names like Brian Po-hanka, Bob Krick, Will Greene, Dennis Frye and Ed Bearss "" started a grassroots organization that would focus on the bigger picture. It was called the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (APCWS).

I still have, hidden away in my files, the form letter announcing the creation of this group with a hand-written note saying, to steal a quote from Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing." I'm proud to say I have been a member and supporter of this group and its more recent incarnation (the Civil War Preservation Trust, CWPT) since the begin-ning.

The APCWS made connections, raised funds and got out and trod the battlefields, actually mapping 75 of them identifying properties that might someday be purchased for preservation. They met with greater success than the splinter groups and in some cases suffered unfortunate defeats.

I remember the story of one Virginia farmer who plowed under the entrenchments on his farm because he was afraid of how the preservation "nuts" might affect the value of his property and his rights to do what he wished with his land.

Finally the time came for a better-organized, better-connected, big-money organization to take over. Though I was personally sad to see the smaller "user friendly" APCWS disappear in late 1999, CWPT, the resulting organization, has made tremendous strides in both funds raised and property saved. The Trust also has the connections needed to affect Congressional legislation and have an impact on a larger scale.

Have we succeeded in preserving our Civil War heritage? In some cases yes, in other cases no. Can we save it all? Of course not. Just in the last few weeks I visited Gettysburg, entering the town along Route 30. The total destruc-tion of the land and buildup of commercial properties brought tears to my eyes.

And it is not getting better there with developers eyeing the almost pristine Hunterstown battle site; businessmen seeking to bring in casino gambling; and even those whose job is to protect the battlefield supporting questionable projects.

What have we yet to do? Right now I think we have to go after the Congress and administration, not only to save Civil War areas, but national parks and forests throughout the country. Sites like Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and the Great Smoky Mountains have had their air quality sorely depleted, along with their views, water quality and in-frastructure. All parks have a backlog of maintenance due a lack of funding and it is just getting worse.

With these problems who cares about a big field where a bunch of guys killed each other 140 or 225 years ago? Who cares about some big trees, clean air or leaving the landscape undisturbed by a strip mall, strip mine or oil well?

The American wage earners need their jobs to pay for their kids' food and so that they can go to their jobs and tear up the landscape on their ATVs as they relax on the weekend. As the old saying goes, it is, after all, about me!

So who do we blame for the present situation? The guy who wants a job and to provide for his family, Congress, the White House, developers, private land owners, mining and forestry companies or all of the above? Do we blame the apathetic, uninitiated and the uneducated? Do we blame ourselves when we look in the mirror saying that I'll do something tomorrow, thet tomorrow that almost always never comes?

The federal government bears great responsibility for preservation and seeing that our national parks are properly cared for. After all, we don't just pay taxes for tanks and bogus scams to rebuild after hurricanes.

In a larger sense it now falls to the Civil War historian, businessman, reenactor and general history buff who must take an increasing role. We need to keep after the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service, urging them to do their jobs. We have to work on developers, landowners, mining and forestry companies, as well as local and state governments, helping them see that preservation and development can work together.

We need to initiate the apathetic and uneducated, explaining why history and preservation are important. We need to teach them how and why we should save the battlefields.

Many reenacting groups have taken up the cause, donating portions of reenactment proceeds to preservation. They have organized marches to benefit battlefields large and small. Many authors give some proceeds from book sales to preservation. Jeff Shaara does this with his latest book on touring Civil War battlefields. Seminars and Civil War Round Tables often raise money for preservation. These efforts work. But, alas, they're often not enough.

Everyone who has spent any time around me knows that I have the gift of gab. Just to warn you, I am even worse having recently kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland. Yes, it does work! When I walk into a room full of strangers it usually takes me about 30 seconds to strike up a conversation and not much longer to get around to the Civil War. I usually try, if given the opportunity, to promote preservation.

One way to gain another's interest is to start locally with things that need to be preserved in your hometown, county or state "" places that the person you are talking to would know. Then, when they are least expecting it, ex-pand the conversation into a wider realm "" save the trees, save the battlefields etc., etc.

Heck, talk with your relatives (I've been married for 32 years and my wife's family still ask me questions about the war or say "Boy, do I have a friend who is interested in that "ÀúRedcoat and Minuteman' stuff."). Once you get them on the right war, you have something to work with.

Write a letter to your Congressman, Senator and even 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue "" government does work on other issues besides war, destruction and taxes. Ask for their support in preserving the national battlefields and na-tional parks. You can also volunteer on the local level or join a friends group.

Work with schools by talking to school administrators and history departments to let them know that many of the historic sites they study in the classroom are in trouble in the real world.

Take a bus load of kids to a local battlefield and let them walk the ground where the dry words of their textbooks become real, where they can touch and feel history. And point out the fast food joint or strip mall next door and ex-plain why preservation is important. These actions work!

Last but not least dig a little deeper into your own pockets. I know it's hard and times are tough, but every penny in a preservation group's fund helps. If you don't give now, thinking you'll have more money later, by the time later comes around it's a good possibility that the slice of battlefield we've been trying to save might be gone.

Abraham Lincoln commented at the dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg:"We have come to dedi-cate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this."

In 1863 they saved a portion of the Gettysburg battlefield for the dead of the battle. Today it is our responsibility to save a larger portion of the battlefield, whether it is Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Glendale, Five Forks, Mill Springs or Saltville, to honor the sacrifice that the living experienced, and the dead and wounded suffered during the Civil War.

Blake A. Magner is The Civil War News Book Review Editor. A student of the Civil War since 1962, he was chairman of the General John Gibbon Memorial Committee that erected a monument on the Gettysburg Battlefield in 1998. In 1991 he surveyed battlefields for potential preservation for the APCWS.