Funding will save historic lands

America's endangered Civil War battlefields due to get record cash infusion

Date published: 10/29/2009

By CLINT SCHEMMER

For those who value American history, this week should be one for the record books.

Communities across the nation are about to benefit from the largest appropriation for Civil War battlefield preservation that Congress has ever parceled out.

House and Senate members have included $9 million for preservation efforts in the fiscal 2010 Interior Appropriations Act conference report. That's nearly twice the previous single-year record for such projects, said Jim Campi, the chief government-relations official at the nonprofit Civil War Preservation Trust.

The conference report, due for a final vote in both chambers later this week, designates the money for the U.S. Department of the Interior's American Battlefield Preservation Program.

Created in 1990 in the wake of development controversies at Virginia's Manassas battlefield, the program matches government and private funds to permanently protect Civil War battle sites throughout the nation. In 2008, for example, the Virginia General Assembly set aside $5.2 million to match ABPP money.

"The American Battlefield Protection Program is always pleased when Congress recognizes the importance of saving battlefield landscapes and supports the hard work of the dedicated organizations that make preservation possible," Paul Hawke, the program's chief, said yesterday in reaction to the news. "We congratulate our partners--the Civil War Preservation Trust, state and local governments, and private nonprofits--on keeping the issue of battlefield preservation in the public eye."

Members of Virginia's congressional delegation--including Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner and 1st District Rep. Rob Wittman--supported the push for funding. Webb, who played a leading role in the effort, called the funding request's acceptance "welcome news."

"As America prepares for the 150th-anniversary commemoration of the Civil War, it is more important than ever that we preserve these landmarks for future generations to learn about the history of our nation," he said.

The conferees' report includes $200,000 for Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. The park's use of the funds depends on what battlefield land is available for acquisition, Superintendent Russ Smith said.

"It's wonderful that Congress has appropriated such a large sum for the program," Smith said. "On the eve of the Civil War sesquicentennial, that will do a lot of good for battlefield preservation."

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Date published: 10/29/2009

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