A rally yesterday was supposed to pull together support to preserve Stafford County's Crow's Nest peninsula.

But by its conclusion, some who attended the Save Crow's Nest gathering were worried that the effort had become partisan.

It started when Stafford Supervisor Mark Osborn addressed the standing-room-only crowd at the Brooke Fire Department and said three supervisors--he didn't specify who--had been working toward a bond referendum to pay to buy the ecologically sensitive peninsula from a developer.

Steven Apicella, chairman of the Stafford Republican Party, took it a step further in a statement praising Supervisors Osborn, Bob Gibbons and Gary Snellings for being out front on the issue. All three are Republicans.

Supervisor Kandy Hilliard, a Democrat, took issue with that claim. In an interview after the rally, Hilliard said all seven supervisors have supported efforts to save the 3,800-acre peninsula, which includes a large heron rookery and one of the region's last stands of virgin forest.

"It is too critically important to see it become a political issue," Hilliard said. "We, as citizens of Stafford, expect better than that of elected officials."

Asked to respond, Osborn said the issue wasn't political.

"Keep politics out of this," he said. "Let's do what's best for the county."

One organizer said she was surprised Osborn showed up. Hilliard had called to say she was coming, but Osborn did not, said Cecelia Kirkman, a spokeswoman for the Save Crow's Nest group.

Kirkman noted a long history of nonpartisan work to preserve the peninsula at the mouth of Potomac and Accokeek creeks and said she hopes it continues. From U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis, a Republican, to Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, politicians have supported Crow's Nest without touting party labels, Kirkman said.

Partisanship was not mentioned by organizers during the rally, the first of several that Save Crow's Nest hopes to hold in coming months. Hilliard did not respond to Osborn's remarks when she spoke to the crowd.

Organizers reviewed the history of the tract and encouraged the 130 who attended to get involved in the preservation effort. The group took up a collection to help finance an awareness campaign.