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Civil War preservation | A good year for saving history
Amid recession, Civil War Preservation Trust posts its second-best annual tally for rescuing hallowed ground
By CLINT SCHEMMER
The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
January 7, 2010
For many people, 2009 is a year they want to forget. But for the country's top Civil War preservation outfit, the past year shines.
Even as the nation confronted its worst economic straits since the Great Depression, the Civil War Preservation Trust posted its second-largest annual tally for battlefield land taken out of harm's way.
Some 2,777 acres at 20 battlefields in five states were protected. That's almost double the size of all 11 units of Richmond National Battlefield combined, or a shade less than half the acreage of Gettysburg National Military Park.
"It's been just phenomenal," CWPT President James Lighthizer said in an interview yesterday. "If you'd asked me at the beginning of the year if we could pull that off, I never would have thought it possible."
Much of the impetus for 2009's successes came from Virginia's unprecedented financial commitment to save Civil War sites, Lighthizer said. That bipartisan project, which provided $5.2 million in state funds that CWPT and other groups matched 2-1, was spearheaded by Gov. Tim Kaine; House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford; and state Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania.
Understanding that Virginia's challenge grant was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, CWPT members "dug deep in their pockets" and gave to the trust's Virginia Legacy Fund to meet the state match, Lighthizer said.
Virginia's appropriation was the most generous contribution to battlefield pres-ervation ever made by a state government. That was fitting, Kaine has said, given that the commonwealth witnessed the majority of the Civil War's largest and most significant battles.
"I normally have a pretty low threshold for hyperbole," Civil War historian and author Robert K. Krick, a Fredericksburg resident, said yesterday.
"But CWPT had a wonderful year in a time when the economy was down and giving for many things was down. They took the opportunities that were presented to them and did just a fabulous job of acquiring important things."
Kathleen Kilpatrick, director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, praised the cooperation of landowners, residents, organizations and "government leaders at all levels."
"There is so much to celebrate in these remarkable accomplishments, even as we prepare for the hard work ahead," she said.
Nationally, CWPT purchased $38 million worth of battlefield land in Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida and Minnesota last year, paying fair market prices.
"Being able to put $15 million into Virginia for land preservation was very significant," Lighthizer said. "Virginia was the primary focus of our efforts last year, and CWPT staff spent much of its time in the state."
In all, CWPT--partnering with the commonwealth, local preservation groups and the federal government--saved 1,934 acres in Virginia in 2009. In the Fredericksburg area, that land includes key portions of the Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Trevilian Station battlefields.
Lighthizer credited the Fredericksburg-based Central Virginia Battlefields Trust for taking the lead to save the 94-acre Link property at the Wilderness battlefield in Spotsylvania County.
"But this year, it wasn't just about acreage," Lighthizer said. "We've bought very high-quality history and real estate, places important to telling the stories of the Civil War."
Part of the trust's strategy is achieving "critical mass" at individual battlefields by stitching together smaller parcels. In 2009, for example, it worked with the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation to save 209 acres at Third Winchester that creates a 576-acre preserve, and added land in eastern Henrico County to protect 1,650 contiguous acres at the Glendale and Malvern Hill battlefields.
The nation's terrible economic situation actually helped, Lighthizer said.
"We were able to take advantage of the worst recession in generations," he said. "In September 2008, when the roof fell in, we immediately went to full-armor battle stations and tightened our expenses.
"The recession didn't lower land prices, but it held them down. And we sustained and improved our revenue by 8 percent. We were able to hold steady and move forward in a year when most nonprofits moved backward."
Another of 2009's big successes--congressional extension of the American Battlefield Protection Program--will pay dividends for years to come, he said.
Congress authorized $9 million, the largest single-year sum in the National Park Service program's history, making up for ground lost when the program's renewal was in limbo.
"That was huge, and is enabling us to do some things that wouldn't be possible otherwise," Lighthizer said.
Small and nimble, CWPT can move much faster than the government to acquire land. That helps landowners willing to sell their property for preservation, trust officials said.
With 55,000 members, the trust is the nation's largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization. It was created 10 years ago by the merger of the Fredericksburg-based Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites and the Civil War Trust, headquartered in Hagerstown, Md.
The trust's best year was 2001, when it saved a total of 2,881 acres.
Eric
Amid recession, Civil War Preservation Trust posts its second-best annual tally for rescuing hallowed ground
By CLINT SCHEMMER
The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
January 7, 2010
For many people, 2009 is a year they want to forget. But for the country's top Civil War preservation outfit, the past year shines.
Even as the nation confronted its worst economic straits since the Great Depression, the Civil War Preservation Trust posted its second-largest annual tally for battlefield land taken out of harm's way.
Some 2,777 acres at 20 battlefields in five states were protected. That's almost double the size of all 11 units of Richmond National Battlefield combined, or a shade less than half the acreage of Gettysburg National Military Park.
"It's been just phenomenal," CWPT President James Lighthizer said in an interview yesterday. "If you'd asked me at the beginning of the year if we could pull that off, I never would have thought it possible."
Much of the impetus for 2009's successes came from Virginia's unprecedented financial commitment to save Civil War sites, Lighthizer said. That bipartisan project, which provided $5.2 million in state funds that CWPT and other groups matched 2-1, was spearheaded by Gov. Tim Kaine; House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford; and state Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania.
Understanding that Virginia's challenge grant was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, CWPT members "dug deep in their pockets" and gave to the trust's Virginia Legacy Fund to meet the state match, Lighthizer said.
Virginia's appropriation was the most generous contribution to battlefield pres-ervation ever made by a state government. That was fitting, Kaine has said, given that the commonwealth witnessed the majority of the Civil War's largest and most significant battles.
"I normally have a pretty low threshold for hyperbole," Civil War historian and author Robert K. Krick, a Fredericksburg resident, said yesterday.
"But CWPT had a wonderful year in a time when the economy was down and giving for many things was down. They took the opportunities that were presented to them and did just a fabulous job of acquiring important things."
Kathleen Kilpatrick, director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, praised the cooperation of landowners, residents, organizations and "government leaders at all levels."
"There is so much to celebrate in these remarkable accomplishments, even as we prepare for the hard work ahead," she said.
Nationally, CWPT purchased $38 million worth of battlefield land in Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida and Minnesota last year, paying fair market prices.
"Being able to put $15 million into Virginia for land preservation was very significant," Lighthizer said. "Virginia was the primary focus of our efforts last year, and CWPT staff spent much of its time in the state."
In all, CWPT--partnering with the commonwealth, local preservation groups and the federal government--saved 1,934 acres in Virginia in 2009. In the Fredericksburg area, that land includes key portions of the Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Trevilian Station battlefields.
Lighthizer credited the Fredericksburg-based Central Virginia Battlefields Trust for taking the lead to save the 94-acre Link property at the Wilderness battlefield in Spotsylvania County.
"But this year, it wasn't just about acreage," Lighthizer said. "We've bought very high-quality history and real estate, places important to telling the stories of the Civil War."
Part of the trust's strategy is achieving "critical mass" at individual battlefields by stitching together smaller parcels. In 2009, for example, it worked with the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation to save 209 acres at Third Winchester that creates a 576-acre preserve, and added land in eastern Henrico County to protect 1,650 contiguous acres at the Glendale and Malvern Hill battlefields.
The nation's terrible economic situation actually helped, Lighthizer said.
"We were able to take advantage of the worst recession in generations," he said. "In September 2008, when the roof fell in, we immediately went to full-armor battle stations and tightened our expenses.
"The recession didn't lower land prices, but it held them down. And we sustained and improved our revenue by 8 percent. We were able to hold steady and move forward in a year when most nonprofits moved backward."
Another of 2009's big successes--congressional extension of the American Battlefield Protection Program--will pay dividends for years to come, he said.
Congress authorized $9 million, the largest single-year sum in the National Park Service program's history, making up for ground lost when the program's renewal was in limbo.
"That was huge, and is enabling us to do some things that wouldn't be possible otherwise," Lighthizer said.
Small and nimble, CWPT can move much faster than the government to acquire land. That helps landowners willing to sell their property for preservation, trust officials said.
With 55,000 members, the trust is the nation's largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization. It was created 10 years ago by the merger of the Fredericksburg-based Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites and the Civil War Trust, headquartered in Hagerstown, Md.
The trust's best year was 2001, when it saved a total of 2,881 acres.
Eric