The Wilderness Alert !!!!

[2ndNHDOC]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

The problem is not Wal-Mart, if you stop them another big retailer will just fill the void.. The problem is the zoning board and the owners of the land, those are the people that must be dealt with... -Will Coffey

Wal-Mart ain't helping the problem in this case, either. There must be a fine balance between private enterprise and preserving our American heritage.

Sam Walton is rolling in his grave somewhere right now...

-Johnny Lloyd

The problem with this theory Johnny is we, myself included, as a Preservation group need to give people reasons other then it is our Heritage to not develope the land or sell it to developers and we don't(again myself included). We don't buy it up least not as much as we like, we don't immune those folks from the property tax they pay if they agree to leave the land as is. So people see land that isn't making them money and is costing therm at the same time. In addition we don't give zoning boards and city planners a way to suppliment the tax revenues they are not getting from the area. It is like my dad and a former Chief of mine both said "don't give me a complaint, give me a solution". Now I donate to CWPT when and what I can and I wrtie my reps to increase NPS funds to make money available to buy up land when it comes for sale. But if we as preservationists would try to find a dollar sign way to show people it is better not to develope we would get more done.

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Environmentalist alleges manipulation of zoning

Environmental group official accuses Orange of fixing zoning to help Wal-Mart

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
March 11, 2009

A Piedmont Environmental Council official has accused a consultant of removing parts of Orange County's zoning ordinance because county officials want to allow Wal-Mart to build in the Wilderness battlefield area.

Jack Snyder, a PEC vice chairman, also accused the county administration of "manipulating" the work of zoning and planning consultant Milt Herd.

Herd, who heads Herd Planning & Design, is working with Karen and Vlad Gavrilovic of Renaissance Planning Group to bring the county's zoning ordinance into compliance with state law and modern land-use standards. "I've had no interaction or guidance from Orange County," Herd said.

Yesterday, County Administrator Bill Rolfe and Director of Strategic Planning Deborah Kendall echoed Herd. "This has nothing to do with Wal-Mart," Kendall said in an interview. "Attention was drawn to it because of Wal-Mart, but it's being done because we want to make sure the revised ordinance is legal."

The PEC and other opponents of Wal-Mart's presence have claimed that the commercially zoned land that the retailer wants to build on should have reverted to agriculturally zoned land because no site plan was submitted on it within five years of its rezoning.

According to state law, however, the county does not have the authority to legislate zoning reversion.

Snyder is a member of the 25-member steering committee appointed by Orange County supervisors to work with the consultants. He has opposed the Wal-Mart proposal and worked to craft a comprehensive plan and subdivision ordinance that restricts growth.

His comments at Monday night's meeting of the steering committee were not supported by other members.

Orange attorney and former Supervisor Rick Wilkinson commended Herd for "doing what we asked you to do."

Farmer and businessman Ron Burleson praised Herd's work on his 130-page draft.

"We have something to work from now. Someone had to take the whole thing and make sense of it. This draft is our chance to go through it thoughtfully," he said.

By the end of the meeting, though, retired attorney and county historian Frank Walker laughingly called the committee's progress "terminal confusion."

The zoning ordinance steering committee will meet again with the consultants April 13. By that time, Herd said, he would have suggestions for conservation districts that might include passive agricultural uses but would be geared toward areas the county would like to preserve for historical and environmental uses.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/032009/03112009/451453

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Wilderness makes 'endangered' list 10 MOST ENDANGERED

Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss brings star power to historic preservation; Wilderness battlefield controversy draws national attention

By CLINT SCHEMMER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
March 19, 2009

--It shared billing with 24 other battlefields, but the Wilderness got plenty of play yesterday as preservationists spotlighted America's most endangered Civil War sites.

The battlefield in Orange and Spotsylvania counties was mentioned several times as the Civil War Preservation Trust briefed the media on its 2009 "History Under Siege" report at a National Press Club news conference headlined by Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss.

It was the first historic site that CWPT President James Lighthizer named as he released the trust's yearly top-10 list of the nation's most threatened battlefields. The trust also announced 15 "at-risk" battlefields.

Wilderness exemplifies how some national battlefield parks face grave challenges from outside their boundaries, Lighthizer said. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. proposes to build a 138,000-square-foot Supercenter on commercially zoned land within a quarter-mile of the Wilderness battle sites preserved by Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

The trust and its allies say the Wal-Mart, anchoring other retail projects, will encourage sprawl at the gateway to the park and pour heavy traffic onto State Route 20, the heart of the battlefield.

"[The Wilderness] was a horrific battle, with tremendous slaughter, and yet the Wal-Mart corporation proposes building a monstrosity of a big box on the battlefield, though it's not on National Park Service land," Lighthizer told the standing-room-only crowd. "At the very least, it's going to denigrate that battlefield. And at the very worst, it's going to destroy part of it. Something proposed even on the outside of land already preserved can be a serious threat."

Maryland's Monocacy national battlefield, threatened by a proposed waste incinerator and its 200-foot-tall smokestack, falls in the same category, Lighthizer said.

But Dreyfuss stole the show, as the trust's chief readily admitted.

"This is like a parallel universe for me because I love history as much as I love acting," Dreyfuss said. "Had I not been an actor, I would have been a history teacher, and that's that."

Best known for films such as "American Graffiti," "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," he waxed eloquent about the need for Americans to better understand their heritage--to know where they come from, and why. "I don't think there's an aspect of the war, militarily, strategically or otherwise, that doesn't fascinate me," Dreyfuss said. "I've re-created the Battle of Cedar Creek, marching in the First Virginia Infantry. And I'm a Unionist, so that was tough."

Having been involved in numerous documentaries, including "Lincoln" and the Smithsonian Institution's series "The Great Battles of the Civil War," he pitched an idea for a new one.

Dreyfuss said he'd like to make a TV documentary on the Civil War that depicts many battlefields just as they are today, consumed--or nibbled away at--by suburban sprawl and homogenous chain-store development.

"Visually, it would go from Foster's Freeze to Foster's Freeze, to Wal-Mart to Barnes & Noble, and show this is where Nathan Bedford Forrest did this and where Lee did that and where Grant did this. You'll hear it. You won't see it, because we eat our history.

"I think that would go a long way toward reminding us of how valuable it is that we do not eat--should not, ever--eat our history."

Libby O'Connell, chief historian at History, formerly The History Channel, stressed the economic benefits that heritage tourism brings to communities that save and care for historic sites. "I want to go on record here as saying the trust is not saying 'No development, everything has to stay the same.' We know that's not going to work," said O'Connell, who serves on CWPT's Board of Directors.

"What we're talking about here is smart development intelligent planning with community stakeholders, so that people can understand the long-term goal of serious preservationists is to make it work for all of us."

Culpeper County resident Zann Miner, president of the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, said the local group appreciates the trust's continued focus on the problems that large-scale commercial development pose for the historic site.

The Battle of the Wilderness, one of the Civil War's largest and most important conflicts, was the first clash between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The May 5-6, 1864, battle began Grant's grueling Overland Campaign, which drained both armies and eventually brought Union troops to the gates of Richmond.

Two other Virginia battlefields--New Market Heights and Cedar Creek--also made the trust's top-10 list.

At New Market Heights in Henrico County south of Richmond, new subdivisions and growing traffic congestion confront the battlefield. Despite being of national significance, no portion of the land is protected by any preservation organization.

A gutsy Union assault there by African-American troops on Sept. 29, 1864, resulted in 14 black soldiers being awarded the congressional Medal of Honor--the highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. government.

At Cedar Creek, between Middletown and Strasburg in the Shenandoah Valley, expansion of neighboring limestone quarries threatens the Oct. 19, 1864, battlefield.

After yesterday's news conference, Dreyfuss, Lighthizer and O'Connell traveled to Washington's Shaw neighborhood--named after Robert Gould Shaw, the martyred Union officer portrayed in the movie "Glory."

Visiting the African American Civil War Memorial at 10th and U streets, they joined black Civil War re-enactors to honor the courage and sacrifice of the 200,000 black troops who fought for the Union.

Frank Smith, director of the nearby African American Civil War Memorial and Museum, gave Dreyfuss a tour of the monument. Then, as dozens of students from D.C. schools looked on, the dignitaries laid a wreath at its

-----------------------------------------

The Civil War Preservation Trust, which issued its first annual report on endangered battlefields in February 2001, named the following 10 sites yesterday as the nation's most threatened:

Cedar Creek, Va.

Fort Gaines, Ala.

Gettysburg, Pa.

Monocacy, Md.

New Market Heights, Va.

Port Gibson, Miss.

Sabine Pass, Texas

South Mountain, Md.

Spring Hill, Tenn.

Wilderness, Va.

The report also includes 15 other Civil War sites--including Hampton's Fort Monroe--as "at-risk."

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/032009/03192009/453325/index_html?page=1

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Major landowner joins Gateway push

Eastern Orange's largest landowner and preservation alliance agree to jointly plan Wilderness gateway, invite county and Wal-Mart to participate

By CLINT SCHEMMER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
April 3, 2009

The dynamics of the conversation about land use in eastern Orange County may be changing.

The area's largest private landowner, the King family, is joining with preservationists this week to ask the county and the retailer it has been wooing--Wal-Mart Stores Inc.--to sit down together and plan the future of the State Route 3 corridor.

The Kings, who own 2,173 acres between the Wilderness battlefield and the Rapidan River, have agreed to engage in an open-ended effort to try balancing their interests with historic preservation and Orange's desire for economic development in that area.

King family members and the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition are inviting the county's elected officials to collaborate in examining the possibilities for the "gateway" shared by Orange and the Civil War battlefield.

The Kings and the coalition, in a joint statement delivered late Wednesday to Board Chairman Lee Frame and County Administrator Bill Rolfe, said they "strongly encourage" Orange to take part in the land-use planning process they both endorse.

That renews and expands on an offer the coalition made in January to the county Board of Supervisors, which was rejected by three members. The majority called it a ruse to delay their decision on a retail center anchored by a 138,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed just north of the State Routes 3 and 20 crossroads.

Last year, the board rejected the Kings' request to rezone 177 acres to allow commercial development at the southwest corner of Routes 3 and 20.

Board Chairman Lee Frame, in an interview yesterday, expressed skepticism about the King-coalition statement. "I'm not sure this letter offers much more than what was offered before, that it's anything new or different," he said.

preservationists praise kings' commitment

The gateway planning effort "is very open-ended, with no preconceived notions," said Jim Campi, spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust. "We'll see what alternatives result at the end. We're talking about a process that goes far beyond 100-foot buffers, that involves all aspects of the planning process.

"Now is the time to start moving forward with this. The preservation community is committed to it, and the King family is committed to it."

Rob Nieweg, director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Southern Field Office, said "the Kings are making it very clear that this is not a delaying tactic; this is responsible governance."

"Preservationists and the largest property owner in this region are asking Orange County to live up to its obligations, under state law, to plan for future growth and ensure heritage preservation," Nieweg said. "Those twin goals are in the county's comprehensive plan."

Russ Smith, superintendent of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, praised the Kings for their willingness to work together on land-use issues.

"It's a difficult task, but well worth the effort," Smith said. "We hope that the owners of the Wal-Mart property will join in."

Campi of the Civil War Preservation Trust said the coalition hopes to discuss the joint statement soon with the world's largest retailer. "We've had some conversations with Wal-Mart, and the lines of communication remain open," he said.

WAL-MART WEIGHS IN

Keith Morris, director of public affairs and government relations for Wal-Mart's northeast region, said the retail giant shares the same goals as the coalition.

"Through our own careful planning, creative design, and meetings with the community, our development is absolutely compatible with preservation of the battlefield and national park," Morris said. "We are glad to see the coalition recognize that carefully planned development and preservation of the battlefield park are not mutually exclusive."

If some of the Kings' 3.4 square miles may be considered compatible for development, Morris said, "it would be hard to argue that our commercially zoned and comprehensively planned site of 50 acres, where almost one-third will remain undeveloped and preserved, is somehow not compatible."

One group in the eight-member coalition, the Piedmont Environmental Council, declined to sign the joint statement.

"It seemed to go a little too far," PEC State Policy Director Daniel Holmes said, referring to the assertion that historic-site preservation may be in accord with what it calls "large-scale commercial development."

"However, the PEC supports this gateway planning process," Holmes said. "We feel it's in the best interests of the county to take a look at that before making any major development decisions [along Route 3]. In that way, we do not differ at all with the rest of the members of the coalition."

Catharine Gilliam, Virginia program manager with the National Parks Conservation Association, said this week's statement grew out of informal conversations the King family had been having for months with coalition representatives.

"The Kings and the coalition recognized we had a lot more common ground than had been acknowledged before, and that this planning and visioning effort will identify where there could be consensus," she said.

Kenny Dotson, the King family's local representative, agreed. "We realized that if we didn't listen to the coalition we'd be fighting them," he said.

---------------------------------------------------------

The Battle of the Wilderness, one of the Civil War's largest and most important conflicts, was the first clash between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

The May 5-6, 1864, battle began Grant's grueling Overland Campaign, which drained both armies and brought Union troops to the gates of Richmond.

More than 160,000 men fought along what are now State Routes 3 and 20. Nearly 29,000 Americans were killed, wounded or captured.

Today, much of the battlefield is part of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. The proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter is within the historical battle area, but outside the park boundary authorized by Congress.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/042009/04032009/456161/index_html?page=1

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Orange supervisors not swayed by study offer

Orange supervisors not impressed with coalition's offer to conduct land-use study

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
April 3, 2009

Most Orange County supervisors don't appear any more interested in the latest attempt by preservationists to engage them in a discussion of land use than they were the first time.

Members of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition sent a letter this week to Board of Supervisors Chairman Lee Frame asking for the county to agree to a "comprehensive planning process for the Wilderness Battlefield/Orange County gateway region."

The letter reiterates an offer made earlier this year that supervisors rejected, but this time includes the signatures of landowners Charles "Chip" King, his wife, Nan, and sister Jan King Evans, and local businessman Ken Dotson, the Kings' local representative.

"There's nothing new in this letter, and it isn't going to change any votes on the Board of Supervisors," Frame said yesterday.

"It sort of puts us in the position of following the outcome of a study. A study might produce something we might like to look at, but that's not likely to happen."

The proposed gateway covers the State Routes 3 and 20 area of northeast Orange. The area is already home to commercial development, including a Sheetz gas station, a 7-Eleven, two strip malls, a Wachovia bank, a McDonald's and a used-car lot.

Wal-Mart wants to build a Supercenter as part of a 50-acre retail development in the area--a site preservationists oppose because of its proximity to the Civil War battlefield park.

King and his family have proposed a 900-acre mixed-used development called Wilderness Crossing on the north side of Route 3, adjacent to the Wal-Mart site. It is part of the 2,000 acres owned by the family. The county's comprehensive plan designates growth in that area, and county officials have long looked to the area for commercial development to balance the tax base.

According to figures provided to County Administrator Bill Rolfe by the commissioner of revenue, Orange has 1,862 acres classified as business and industry for tax-assessment purposes. That's less than 1 percent of the county--far below the goal of 30 percent.

Three of the county's five supervisors have already voiced their support for Wal-Mart, citing the need for the promised 300 jobs and $500,000 in annual tax revenue for the county.

Frame has said he will wait until he hears from the public before declaring his position, but his evaluation of the letter's impact was backed by Supervisors Zack Burkett, Teel Goodwin and Mark Johnson. All said they saw nothing new in the coalition's offer and would continue to support Wal-Mart and other commercial development in the area.

"We always told the coalition people that we would love to see their study, but we wouldn't let it delay Wal-Mart," Burkett said.

The study proposed in January was expected to take six months. It called for the county to hold off on development proposals until it was finished.

"This is just the latest attempt by people who want to stop development in the county. These people will do anything they can to get their positions across," Johnson said. "But it's not their job to balance the budget in Orange County."

Supervisor Teri Pace supports the coalition's plan.

"It would be wise for us to accept this offer from the Kings and the coalition, and to participate in this study, so that we act in the long-term best interests of Orange County moving forward," she said yesterday. "The more options you have, the more likely you're going to get the right answer."

A special-use permit is all that is required for the retail giant to start construction. Supervisors are expected to approve the permit this summer.

In past community presentations, Dotson has said he would like to see Wal-Mart in the Wilderness Crossing project. Now, however, he says that Wal-Mart could just as easily stay put, but it probably needs to be 20 feet lower that originally proposed.

"We all want sustainable economic development," Dotson said yesterday. "That's bigger than Wal-Mart. We need to come together. The county needs to preserve what it has, but also to balance its tax base."

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/042009/04032009/456879/index_html?page=1

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

With these folks in charge, there is reason to be concerned for Orange County, Virginia's future.


Orange: No to Wilderness gateway study

Orange supervisors reject preservationists' request to join planning study of Wilderness battlefield area

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
April 16, 2009

The Orange County Board of Supervisors has once again rejected the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition's request to join a planning study for the State Route 3 area north of the Wilderness battlefield.

A majority of the five supervisors have said they considered it an attempt to delay or derail a Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed for a commercially zoned site near the Civil War battlefield park.

In a letter to Jim Campi, policy and communications director of the Civil War Preservation Trust, Chairman Lee Frame reiterated that supervisors do not reject the goals of a comprehensive planning process for the area.

But the county will not hold up Wal-Mart's application for a special-use permit to build its 138,000-square-foot store while the study is done, Frame wrote.

The letter approved by supervisors Tuesday night is a response to an April 1 letter signed by some members of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition and the King family. The family wants to build a 900-acre mixed-use development near the proposed Wal-Mart.

That letter attempted to address the county's concern for economic development in the area by announcing that the family "wishes to see their property developed in a responsible manner that benefits the community and the National Park."

The King family also owns more than 100 acres on the opposite side of Route 3 that is considered part of the Wilderness battlefield and has been approved by Congress for acquisition. Many of those involved anticipate that the land will be part of a deal that will put a new intersection on Route 3 and create a road that will intersect State Route 20 near Ellwood.

The coalition's Jan. 9 proposal says "decisions regarding these lands must be made after the Gateway Vision process has reached a stage where the project development has the benefit of, and can reflect, the results."

The coalition's original study timeline was January to June, at which time "Orange County, developers, and Wilderness Coalition set future phases and refine agreements."

"The Coalition is welcome to offer recommendations without the County committing to a cumbersome planning process at this time," Frame wrote.

The same message was sent by Frame in a Feb. 26 letter to the coalition rejecting the first study offer.

"They brought this up last year," said Supervisor Mark Johnson. "If they'd done [the planning study], then it would be done by now. We never told them not to do it."

Supervisor Zack Burkett agreed. "If they started their study when they originally proposed it, instead of lying to people all over the country about it, six months would be up by now," he said.

Some supervisors have expressed annoyance at the barrage of correspondence they received as a result of efforts by national and local preservation groups that oppose Wal-Mart. That annoyance peaked when the Vermont legislature chimed in with a proclamation opposing development near the Wilderness battlefield, which includes a monument to Vermont soldiers.

At Tuesday's meeting, Frame and Supervisor Teri Pace supported the planning study. But Supervisors Teel Goodwin, Burkett and Johnson opposed it, calling it a "delaying tactic" aimed at derailing the proposed Wal-Mart.

"It's really shortsighted of the board not to accept this offer," Pace said. "All they're asking is that we hold back for six months."

"If the coalition has any information relevant to the Wal-Mart location, they can present it at the public hearings that will be held before the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors," Frame said.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/042009/04162009/459705/index_html?page=1

Eric

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Wal-Mart vs. the Wilderness

By JAMES MCPHERSON
Princeton, N.J.
Sunday, May 3, 2009

In May 1864, two armies clashed in a desperate struggle for the course of our nation's history. The Battle of the Wilderness was a great turning point of the Civil War -- the first clash between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant and the beginning of the end for the beleaguered Confederacy. The fighting was so intense that the tangled underbrush caught fire, burning wounded soldiers alive.

To commemorate the bloody struggle, portions of the Wilderness -- which is near Locust Grove, Va., in Orange County -- were set aside as a national military park. However, just 21 percent of the battlefield is permanently protected; other key areas are privately held and vulnerable to development.

This vulnerability became apparent when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced plans to build a 138,000-square-foot superstore on historically sensitive land directly across the road from the national park. The store would sit on a hill overlooking key parts of the battlefield, looming over a national treasure.

Preservationists are not opposed to Wal-Mart opening a superstore in the region. A coalition of national and local conservation groups has merely asked Wal-Mart to choose a different location. Together with more than 250 other historians, I signed a letter to the company in support of that idea. We wrote that "the Wilderness is an indelible part of our history, its very ground hallowed by the American blood spilled there, and it cannot be moved. Surely Wal-Mart can identify a site that would meet its needs without changing the very character of the battlefield."

"Wilderness Wal-Mart" supporters argue that because the proposed store site lies just beyond the park, it lacks historic significance, a profound misunderstanding of the nature of history. In the heat of battle, no unseen hand kept soldiers inside what would one day be a national park. Such boundaries are artificial, modern constructions shaped by external factors, and they have little bearing on what is or is not historic. To assume the park boundary at the Wilderness encompasses every acre of significant ground is to believe that the landscape beyond the borders of Yosemite National Park instantly ceases to be majestic.

With Civil War battlefields we have a true tool for determining historic value: the findings of the congressionally appointed Civil War Sites Advisory Commission. I was privileged to serve on this distinguished panel of historians and lawmakers, and I stand by our decision to include the area Wal-Mart is considering within the battlefield's historic boundary.

The controversy illustrates another misconception about historic preservation -- that it must occur at the expense of economic development. A properly managed historic site can be a powerful economic driver for its community, creating jobs and generating tax revenue by drawing tourists.

Recognizing this, preservationists have proposed a comprehensive planning process to balance protection of the Wilderness Battlefield with regional economic development goals, marrying respect for the old with the promise of the new. It is a process by which everyone -- Wal-Mart, local residents and the battlefield -- wins. The alternative is the type of piecemeal development that has swallowed up historic sites and destroyed the identities of countless communities. It is a scenario in which only Wal-Mart wins.

There is still time for Wal-Mart to recognize its error and identify another location. This week marks the 145th anniversary of the Battle of the Wilderness, a perfect opportunity to seek a solution in everyone's best interests. The Wilderness Battlefield is a living memorial to American sacrifice and heroism. It would be tragic if such a landmark was lost through the short-sightedness of local decision-makers and Wal-Mart's stubborn refusal to consider reasonable alternatives.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/02/AR2009050202004.html

[Hairy Nation Boys]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

My great-great grandfather Silas Glaspey was at the battle of the Wilderness with the 10th New Jersey. What an outrage!

Holler

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Actor joins foes of Orange Wal-Mart

On eve of battle's 145th anniversary, Duvall, lawmakers plea for preservation at The Wilderness

By CLINT SCHEMMER

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
May 5, 2009

Academy Award-winner Robert Duvall added star power yesterday to the fierce fight over development at The Wilderness, weighing in for historic preservation.

The actor, speaking on the Civil War battlefield in Orange County, said he'll do whatever he can to help in "chasing out" a Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed near the entrance to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Duvall spoke from the porch of Ellwood, a historic house where his ancestor Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee consoled wounded troops during the war. The Virginia resident was joined by two congressmen whose states' troops suffered great losses in the Battle of the Wilderness--fought 145 years ago today.

Duvall, who portrayed Lee in the movie "Gods and Generals," said he holds no grudge against Wal-Mart but believes in "capitalism with sensitivity."

Likewise, Reps. Peter Welch of Vermont and Ted Poe of Texas also said they don't oppose Wal-Mart's growth, just its choice of a tract on the edge of the battlefield for its 138,000-square-foot store and an associated retail center.

All three men at yesterday's press conference--joined by Zann Miner, president of the local Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield--urged the Arkansas-based retail giant to choose another site along State Route 3.

"The question for Wal-Mart, which has five stores within 20 miles of here, is whether it needs another store to be sited on this cathedral of sacrifice," Rep. Welch told the 150-some people assembled outdoors in the rain for the event.

Union and Confederate forces suffered 29,000 casualties in the May 5-6, 1864, engagement. The first face-off between Lee and the Union's Ulysses S. Grant, it launched the Overland Campaign, which eventually led to Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

"There were 160,000 troops, Union and Confederate, who fought in the Battle of the Wilderness," Poe said. "This is the number of troops that we have in Afghanistan and Iraq combined, on that one battlefield."

Earlier, the congressmen toured the battlefield with National Park Service historians and paid their respects to the places where their states' soldiers held hotly contested ground. Vermont and Texas each have placed granite monuments at those sites.

The Texans suffered horrific casualties, Poe said. In one of the war's most famous incidents, during brutal fighting at the Widow Tapp field, men of the Texas Brigade begged Lee to return to the rear so he wouldn't be killed. Then they rushed forward, losing 500 of 800 men in the charge.

Welch noted that the deadliest day in Vermont's history occurred at The Wilderness. Its soldiers suffered 1,234 casualties but kept Lee's Confederates from splitting the Union Army in two.

Poe, a Republican, and Welch, a Democrat, said their appreciation for soldiers' sacrifice unites them on the Wilderness issue. "Those young men who died, many of them are still out there in graves known only by God," Poe said of the battlefield's many unmarked burials.

On the way back to Ellwood, the touring lawmakers stopped at the McDonald's across Route 3 from Wal-Mart's 52-acre tract and hopped out for a closer look at the landscape. Both expressed concern that Wal-Mart's retail center plan will fuel more sprawl and overburden the national park's scenic two-lane roads with traffic.

The proposed Supercenter is opposed by 250 of America's top historians, including David McCullough and James McPherson, and filmmaker Ken Burns.

Since last summer, Wal-Mart's proposal has stirred an outcry like that over The Walt Disney Co.'s 1994 plan to build a $650 million theme park within miles of the Manassas battlefield. Bowing to public pressure, the entertainment giant scrapped the project.

Duvall referenced the battle against Disney's America, saying "Now we have Wal-Mart, you know, Wal-Mart with its deep pockets full of cash."

Wal-Mart issued a statement yesterday repeating earlier arguments for the store, primarily that the site has been zoned for commercial use for 24 years and that the Wilderness area already has strip retail development.

"From the beginning of this project, Wal-Mart has been very sensitive to ensuring that our development is respectful of the county's unique location and history," it said.

On May 21, Orange planners will hear public comment on Wal-Mart's plan. The county Board of Supervisors will decide its fate.

A majority of Orange supervisors have said the store will bring needed jobs and tax money to the rural county.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/052009/05052009/463831

Eric

[Phantom Captain]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Hopefully the board will make the right decision. It's a shame what they want to do there. It's bad enough already how much of the Wilderness and Chancellorsville are gone.

Happy to be a member of the CWPT though and doing what needs to be done.

[DougCooper]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

"The question for Wal-Mart, which has five stores within 20 miles of here, is whether it needs another store to be sited on this cathedral of sacrifice," Rep. Welch told the 150-some people assembled outdoors in the rain for the event.

Poe, a Republican, and Welch, a Democrat, said their appreciation for soldiers' sacrifice unites them on the Wilderness issue. "Those young men who died, many of them are still out there in graves known only by God," Poe said of the battlefield's many unmarked burials.

The proposed Supercenter is opposed by 250 of America's top historians, including David McCullough and James McPherson, and filmmaker Ken Burns.

Since last summer, Wal-Mart's proposal has stirred an outcry like that over The Walt Disney Co.'s 1994 plan to build a $650 million theme park within miles of the Manassas battlefield. Bowing to public pressure, the entertainment giant scrapped the project.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/052009/05052009/463831

Eric

Some outstanding quotes in the article Eric sites - one of the best of it's kind I have see lately. As for the Disney plans - that was always complete lunacy. Here we have jobs and economic well being of a part of VA that needs a shot in the arm. But it does not need to come from still another Wal-Mart blighting hallowed ground.

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

All
For those interested or able to attending the public hearing. It will be a first come first serve basis for speakers. A sign up sheet will be available at the front once the doors open. Its my goal to be there very early, I have scoured the County Business Patterns, Comprehensive Plans & Census data and Im ready to hit the BOS (for a second time) with straight planning data to hopefully scare them senseless with their own statistics. Please Pm me on the side if you intend to attend.

Just to add some humor. This is the first sentence post introduction in Orange County's Comprehensive Plan, Historic Preservation/History Section.
"Many of the county’s important historic resources are at risk."

These are also the tourism numbers as reported in 2004
Orange County Visitors Centers 8,515
James Madison’s Montpelier 41,319
James Madison Museum 4,481
Civil War Museum 3,470
Orange County Historical Society 226
Wilderness Battlefield 170,908
Wineries 60,000

[Charles Heath]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Drew,

The critical piece of date missing is the first item of information you state after your name. Being out-of-county means you are not a voter. When the decision to be made is substantial sales tax revenue versus history you can look back years from now with the satisfaction that you "fought the good fight."

[PogueMahone]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

How long will it be before Wal-Mart abandons this store site to build a bigger store nearby?

Wal-Mart "greyfields" study

26,699,678 SQUARE FEET of empty WAL-MARTS in the US (2005 data)

Wal-Mart "Facts"

The thought of a new Wal-Mart anywhere depresses me.

[Dignann]

Re: The Wilderness Alert !!!!

Being out-of-county means you are not a voter. When the decision to be made is substantial sales tax revenue versus history you can look back years from now with the satisfaction that you "fought the good fight."

Many thought the same going into the Dogwood/May 1 Chancellorsville debate, but the voices from outside the county did influence the outcome.

Eric