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Battlefield Preservation

Statement of the Issue

The Sesquicentennial Opportunity
Virginia’s abundance of genuine history makes it one of the principal heritage tourism destinations in the United States. With 125 major Civil War battlefields scattered throughout the Commonwealth, its Civil War history ranks second to none. Whether they are Civil War buffs, history enthusiasts or casual visitors, tourists flock to Virginia’s Civil War battlegrounds to achieve a great understanding of this critical chapter in the American story. The 150^thanniversary of the Civil War provides the impetus for modest investments today to ensure that battlefields escape development and remain accessible to Virginians and tourists 150 years from now.

Background

Tourists Seek Authenticity: Virginia Delivers

The key to successfully courting heritage tourists is to preserve and enhance Virginia’s rich and equally authentic Civil War legacy. According to the Virginia Tourism Corporation, visitors to the state’s Civil War sites stay longer (3.6 nights versus 2.1 nights) and spend more money ($311 per visit versus $145 per visit) than the average visitor to the Old Dominion. They do so because they want to be in the places where our nation’s Civil War history took place, and to walk in the footsteps of the Americans who fought and lived here. The Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission, the best of its kind in the country, recognizes this connection between tourism and historic preservation, and has made battlefield conservation a major part of the state’s 150th anniversary commemoration.

Despite the considerable progress that has been made over the last decade, the Civil War Trust believes there are nearly 50,000 acres of highly significant unprotected battlefield land in Virginia that could be preserved during the Sesquicentennial commemoration. Much of this land is located in Culpeper, Dinwiddie, Hanover, Henrico, Orange, Prince William and Spotsylvania counties, as well as in the Shenandoah Valley. Due to their location in growth areas, the fate of many of these vulnerable sites could be decided before the conclusion of the Sesqui-
centennial in 2015. Further, because they are centered on the I-95 cities of Fredericksburg, Richmond, and Petersburg in the east and the I-81 corridor in the Valley, these battlefields are readily accessible to millions of interstate travelers who currently pass through the Commonwealth without stopping.

Lasting Legacy of the Sesquicentennial

The Virginia Civil War Sites Preservation Fund was created in 2006 for the purpose of awarding grants to private nonprofit organizations to preserve endangered Virginia Civil War historic sites. It is the result of bipartisan cooperation between the governor and leaders in the General Assembly. Since the program’s inception, its funding has helped to preserve more than 1,800 acres throughout the state. At $2,800 per acre preserved, the Fund was a bargain for Virginia taxpayers, especially given that most of this land is in rapidly-developing, high-growth corridors. The Fund was formally codified in early 2010 by unanimous passage of legislation by both chambers of the General Assembly. Governor McDonnell joined with Speaker Bill Howell, Senator Edward Houck and Delegate Chris Peace to sign the bill into law on the Chancellorsville Battlefield, April 20, 2010.

A Public-Private Partnership for Preservation

Land conservation initiatives such as the Land Preservation Tax Credit program, purchase of development rights, and the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation are important tools for preserving battlefield land. The Virginia Civil War Sites Preservation Fund is a complement for those programs.

The fund is an excellent example of public-private partnership as it requires a 1-1 match in order for state funds to be expended – thereby increasing the return on the state’s investment. The program provides funding for fee-simple acquisitions and conservation easements on priority Civil War battlefields in the Commonwealth.

Grants are competitively awarded by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to nonprofit organizations that can move quickly to preserve key unprotected properties, working with willing sellers. Nonprofit groups that have benefitted from the program are the Civil War Trust, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, the Richmond Battlefields Association, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, and the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation.

All signs indicate that the upcoming Sesquicentennial will draw to Virginia tourists from across the United States, hungry for the authenticity provided by our state’s numerous well-preserved Civil War battlegrounds. By acting now to ensure that those remaining blood-soaked fields are set aside for posterity, we will also ensure that tourists to the Old Dominion—both those visiting for the Sesquicentennial and beyond—enjoy the same unparalleled experience.

Supporting the Chesapeake Bay and Preserving Farmland

As nearly all of the land protected by the Virginia Civil War Sites Preservation Fund is located within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, it delivers multiple benefits for the Bay’s endangered natural resources as well as Virginia taxpayers, farm landowners, and communities in the watershed.

Much of the preserved land remains in agricultural production as it was during the Civil War. For example, in the Shenandoah Valley, most of the 3,000 acres protected so far by the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, the Civil War Trust, and other partners continues to contribute to the Valley’s strong but threatened agricultural economy. Implementation of agricultural best management practices for this land ensures that adjacent waterways in the Bay watershed are protected. And key preserved sites will be opened to the public in the coming years to draw more visitors and educate future generations about our nation’s history.

Protecting Virginia’s irreplaceable battlefield land not only preserves touch points of our nation’s history, it enhances water quality in our communities and in the most important estuary in the eastern United States, and it supports agriculture and tourism, Virginia’s two largest economic drivers.

A Success Story at Fort Monroe

A six-year citizen effort to establish a national park unit at Fort Monroe, on Old Point Comfort in Hampton, succeeded on November 1, 2011, when President Obama signed a proclamation declaring 325 acres of Fort Monroe as Fort Monroe National Monument. This was President Obama's first exercise of his powers under the Antiquities Act of 1906, and was accomplished by a remarkable coalition of Republicans and Democrats, citizens and political leaders, and non-profits and the business community. Most critical were the strong support and efforts of Governor Bob McDonnell, Hampton Mayor Molly Ward and Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park (CFMNP). The President's action was remarkably timely, as it came only 45 days after the Army garrison departed Fort Monroe.                             

While the National Monument is a major step forward, the effort to preserve and sustain all of Fort Monroe has a long way yet to go. In 2010, the General Assembly amended the governing Fort Monroe legislation, at the behest of citizens, to discourage any sale of Fort Monroe lands to private parties. The state statute, as amended, requires approval of both the governor and the General Assembly to sell any lands at Fort Monroe to private parties. This provision assured the public that state-controlled Fort Monroe lands may only be sold off after great deliberation and manifest need was demonstrated, and comported with state policy to maintain public control over all the precious acreage at this national treasure on the Chesapeake Bay.

There will, however, likely be an effort to relax the land sale provision in the upcoming General Assembly. Citing anticipated difficulties in generating sufficient revenues to cover costs on the remaining state-managed Fort Monroe lands, the Fort Monroe Authority will likely seek to eliminate the requirement for General Assembly approval of land sales. Citizens, including CFMNP, oppose such a change because planning for the just established National Monument and development of a master plan for remaining state lands has not yet begun, and it is premature to concede that financial sustainability of state-managed lands cannot be achieved without fee simple sales. Further, sales may limit the potential of or even damage the National Monument, by inserting new privately owned development in between its predominately historical and natural areas, while precluding the ability of the National Monument to grow in future years.

Recommendations

To capitalize on the increased national attention the Sesquicentennial will bring to Virginia’s battlefields, VCN member organizations propose that the Commonwealth adopt a “Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Initiative.” Seizing this opportunity to save threatened battlefield land will enhance the tourism potential of the Commonwealth’s Civil War resources.

The cornerstone for such an initiative would be the allocation of $2.5 million a year for the successful Virginia Civil War Sites Preservation Fund in each of the next two fiscal years.

In addition, the state should not authorize the sale of lands at Fort Monroe until the Master Plan is complete. Any future sales should be compatible with the Master Plan.

• vcn@vcnva.org
• 804.644.0283