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Friends' save more land in battlefield area
Nonprofit group secures easement on farm adjacent to East Cavalry Field.
By MATT FURMAN
Evening Sun Reporter
Friday, February 27, 2004
Another chunk of land in the Gettysburg battlefield historic district has been saved from being developed.
The nonprofit group Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg worked with several other groups to secure a conservation easement on the 45- acre Shea farm, which lies east of Gettysburg and adjacent to Gettysburg National Military Park's East Cavalry Field.
A conservation easement means that while the property may still be used for farming, the land is forever restricted from development.
With the Shea farm's easement, Friends has preserved a total of 420 acres since the group formed in 1989.
"This is an important development," said Friends spokeswoman Dru Anne Neil. "We're always thrilled when something like this is possible."
The Shea farm was one of the last glimpses of home and hearth that some members of the Union 5th Corps had while marching to the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.
Union cavalry used the farm as a staging area.
The Friends snagged the easement with help from the Land Conservancy of Adams County, the Adams County Agricultural Land Preservation Board, the Civil War Preservation Trust and the Conservation Fund, a private revenue stream for preservation projects.
The farm is owned by Suzanne and David Shea, who received an undisclosed sum of money for the easement.
"This is a great thing," said Sidney Kuhn, land conservation coordinator with the Land Conservancy of Adams County. "This is an incredibly important piece of land and it's wonderful that it will remain as it should."