CWPT Vigil at Harpers Ferry

[Dignann]

I received the following this morning from Jim Campi at the CWPT. It sounds like the CWPT could use our help at this event. The wheels of government justice grind slowly, and the CWPT wants it to know that while an outcome is anxiously awaited, this rude violation has not been forgotten. If anyone is available and interested in attending, you can contact Jim through the CWPT website, or via the number listed below.


To: Friends of Battlefield Preservation

One year ago next week, the preservation community was stunned by the unauthorized bulldozing of protected battlefield land at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (NHP). During the weekend of August 19 and 20, 2006, a consortium of local developers arrogantly dug an enormous 1,900 foot trench on National Park Service (NPS) property on historic School House Ridge – then proceeded to lay a water and sewer line without a permit or permission from NPS.

The response to the unauthorized bulldozing was immediately and impassioned. Thousands of Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) members signed petitions urging the Department of the Interior to take action against the perpetrators of this outrage. We were joined by other national and local groups who expressed dismay at these events. And we waited patiently for the federal government to stand up and protect land we had worked so hard to preserve for future generations.

Now, one year later, the time has come to renew our call for action – to insure what happened at Harpers Ferry in 2006 cannot happen again. Many of you in the last year have asked us, “What can we do to help?” Let me tell you….

On Friday evening, August 17, 2007, CWPT, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation will host a candlelight vigil on the site of the unauthorized digging of hallowed battlefield land. We will be joined by several local preservation groups who have been fighting the good but often lonely fight against development at Harpers Ferry.

Please, please, consider attending this important event. I know it is never easy to get away in August, because of family vacations, etc. – which is exactly why the developers hatched their plot when they did. For those of you who can attend, there will be a special tour of the battlefield in the afternoon (weather permitting, of course).

WHAT: Candlelight Vigil and Remembrance at Harpers Ferry NHP.

WHEN: Friday, August 17, 2007 at 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Perry Orchard Property, Harpers Ferry NHP, near the intersection of Routes 27 and 340, Jefferson County, W.Va.

I hope you can attend – to show that the preservation remains outrages and frustrated that a handful of individuals could wantonly and defiantly destroy America’s heritage. If you have any questions, please reply to this email or contact CWPT at 1-800-209-7878.

As always, thank you for your support and enthusiasm for battlefield preservation.

Best,

Jim Campi


Eric

[dusty27]

More information

Hey guys,

I just wanted to give you an update on plans for Friday at Harpers Ferry that weren’t included in Jim’s original grassroots message. If you could post an update on the message board, that would be great – we can use all the help we can get to turn folks out for the vigil – and the tour we’re planning is a nice added bonus if folks want to make more of a day of it.

Although the vigil itself is still scheduled to begin at 6:30, we’re also doing a public tour for anyone who can make it out early. Scot Faulkner of Friends of Harpers Ferry is going to lead a tour of infrequently seen sites in the Jackson’s flank area for anyone interested. It will even be a driving tour (we’re borrowing a bus) to keep folks out of the worst of the heat. And should be a great opportunity for folks to see some off the beaten path sites in the area. We’re also working on arrangements with a local restaurant to make sure everyone has a place to eat between the tour and the vigil.

And since by far the most frequent question we’ve gotten is “Where exactly should I go and where should I park?” I’ve included directions below (and attached).

Directions to Perry Orchard Event


August 17, 2007

From I-70 West, take Exit 52 for U.S. 340 West, toward Charles Town.

Proceed approximately 16 miles; you will cross the Potomac River into Virginia. Continue heading West on U.S. 340, in another 2 miles you will cross the Shenandoah River into West Virginia.

Continue heading West on Route 340. The Perry Orchard is located approximately 2 miles further west, immediately following the intersection with W.Va. Route 27. Signs will mark the site.

Parking for the 3:30 p.m. tour and vigil are available on National Park Service Property at the former Blue Ridge Outfitters complex. To reach the parking facility, turn left at the intersection with Route 230 and turn right into the parking lot. The intersection is marked by a traffic light (the second one since crossing the Shenandoah into West Virginia) and is approximately one half mile past the Perry Orchard site and 2.5 miles after crossing the Shenandoah. Signs will direct attendees to the parking area

[Dignann]

Re: CWPT Vigil at Harpers Ferry

Trench digging remembered at Harpers Ferry

By BOB ZIMBEROFF

The Journal [Martinsburg, W.Va.]
August 20, 2007

HARPERS FERRY — In April 1861, as the Civil War began, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson said, “I would rather take Harpers Ferry 50 times than defend it once.”

On Friday, preservation groups came to the defense of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and fired some shots at Washington concerning what representatives of the four groups say was a criminal act undertaken nearly one year ago.

The Civil War Preservation Trust, National Parks Conservation Association, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Friends of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park held a torchlight vigil where they say park ground was illegally disturbed.

No charges related to the incident have ever been filed.

According to Mary K. Goundrey, deputy director of communications for the Civil War Preservation Trust, at 7 a.m. on Aug. 19, developers began to dig two trenches to lay 6-inch sewer and 16-inch water pipes. The trenches cut a 1,900-foot swath through a 37.3-acre tract of land that is referred to as Perry Orchard — the center of Jackson’s siege of Harpers Ferry which commenced in mid-September 1862. The seige ultimately forced the largest surrender of troops in U.S. history.

The pipes connect the Sheridan subdivision, near U.S. 340 west of Perry Orchard, to a wastewater plant that is being built in the Old Standard Quarry property. The stretch of line that runs through Perry Orchard runs parallel to U.S. 340.

“We are out here tonight commemorating what happened a year ago,” Goundrey said. “One year ago, developers came in and without any permit or authorization from the National Park Service and dug two trenches.”

A row of torches marked the 1,900 feet where the trenches were dug.

“We’re here ... to really call upon the folks in the federal government who are still looking into this matter,” Goundrey said. “No charges have been filed yet, but the investigations are still ongoing.”

Goundrey said that Lee Snyder, Gene Capriotti, Herb Jonkers and Jim Gibson represent the developers that dug the trenches. The developers have an easement on the land and applied for a permit to dig the trench, according to Goundrey.

“However something happened as they were waiting for their permit process to go through,” she said, “and they decided they didn’t want to wait. They came in and did this unannounced and on their own,” she said.

The developers involved have maintained they did nothing wrong.

The trenches were dug as the park celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Niagara Movement, which was the beginning of what became the NAACP. The movement innovated civil liberties in the U.S. and met in Harpers Ferry in August 1906.

“They did this on a weekend when there was a major event going on elsewhere in the park,” Goundrey said. “It was tapping a lot of their resources.”

Robert Nieweg, the director of the Southern Field Office at the NTHP said in his speech that the vigil was “really a miserable anniversary.”

“Bulldozing national park land is an irresponsible act,” he said. “Under federal law, an undertaking like digging the sewer line requires a federal approval or has some kind of federal assistance or support and there’s the potential for harming a historic research.”

He said that those two requirements trigger a three-step review process that the developers neglected. The first step in the process is to decide whether there is a historic resource in the way. The second step is to review if the development could disturb that historic resource. The third step is to work with experts, and local and federal government to avoid harming the historic resource while still accomplishing the development.

Goundrey said that artifacts were proven to be disturbed by an investigation undertaken by the park.

According to Scot Faulkner, president of the Friends of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, the park has done all it can to investigate the matter and action against the developers has stalled at the federal level since November when the information was submitted to the Department of the Interior and the Justice Department.

“That activity has not been moved on by the Justice Department,” Faulkner said.

http://www.journal-news.net/News/articles.asp?articleID=11346

Eric