preserving maryland’s civil war battlefields · national concern for american civil war...
TRANSCRIPT
Preserving Maryland’s
Civil War Battlefields
1989 – 2007
H. Grant Dehart Formerly: Director of Program Open Space, Maryland DNR
Director of Maryland Environmental Trust
Member, Governor’s Civil War Heritage Commission
Member, Enhancement Technical Committee, MDOT
National concern for American Civil War Battlefields
(PBS Ken Burns Series on The Civil War)
1986 Manassas National Battlefield threatened
Shopping Center proposed on 542 acres (Til Hazel)
1988 Congressional Quick-take of Manassas property
$118 million to purchase site @ $217,712 per acre
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission appointed
American Battlefield Protection Program established (NPS)
Civil War Trust formed (now Civil War Preservation Trust)
Battlefield Threats and Responses Background
Threats to Antietam Battlefield Area
Sprawl Harpers Ferry Road - Sharpsburg
Threats to Antietam Battlefield area Subdivision of the Grove Farm - Sharpsburg
Antietam Station proposal
Proposed Shopping Center & Motel site
The Grove Farm
Responses to Antietam threat SHAF sues county to stop subdivision of Grove Farm
National Trust for Historic Preservation lists Antietam area as one of Nation’s “11 Most Endangered Historic Sites” in 1989, 1990 & 1991
Maryland Environmental Trust received a grant from the National Trust’s Critical Issues Fund to implement a Rural Historic Village Protection Program, includes Sharpsburg and Burkettsville among 10 villages
MET established the Washington County Land Quality Foundation as a local land trust
MD General Assembly approved the MET Land Trust Grant Fund to help with land trust acquisitions
SHAF grants $100,000 MET* $100,000 CWT APCWS & CWRT
SHAF bought 40 acre Site, 10 lots extinguished
First State Civil
War Site Project The Grove Farm
1991-1992
* Land Trust Grant Fund
ISTEA enacted 1991 authorizing enhancements
Gov. Schaefer appoints Civil War Heritage Com.
Lighthizer invites DNR plan for POS & ISTEA $
Prioritized acquisitions by importance & threat (with help of Civil War historians, landowners, counties & land trusts)
Gave landowners protection options
Worked with willing sellers – no condemnation
Offered appraised market values
MD’s Protection Strategy and Plan
Antietam
Protection
Plan
Progress at Antietam
Keedysville Keedysville
Sharpsburg
Antietam National
Battlefield - NPS
Progress at Antietam
Progress at Antietam
Progress at Antietam
Progress at Antietam
Progress at Antietam
Progress at Antietam
AFTER
Antietam viewshed
Scheller Farm
Keedysville Road
Kefauver-Poffenberger Farm Mansfield Road
The Rohrbach House - Before
The Rohrbach House - Today
Accomplishments* Antietam
61 properties $20,725,587 8,769 acres – MDOT&POS $ 8,425,587 3,504 acres
– Rural Legacy $ 10,900,000 3,901 acres
– MALPF $ 1,300,000 1,324 acres
– MET & private $ 100,000 194 acres
South Mountain 54 properties $16,512,346 6,100 acres
Monocacy 3 properties $2,741,516 434 acres
TOTAL: 118 properties $39,979,449 15,303 acres
* Not included: 8,445 acres of State, Federal & land trust acquisitions within park boundaries
(2,750 acres at Antietam)
Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF)
MET Land Trust Grant Fund
Program Open Space (POS)
Transportation Enhancement Program (ISTEA/TEA21)
Rural Legacy Program (RLP)
American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service (ABPP)
The Conservation Fund
Civil War Preservation Trust
Leverage Multiple Fund Sources
What have we learned? Political leadership and support is key
Schaefer, Lighthizer, Brown, Munson, Bowers, et.al.
Steady and predictable fund sources are needed
Work with local leaders – County Commissioners,
State legislators, landowners, land trusts
Work directly with landowners and the farm community
Foster partnerships between government & private groups
NPS, ABPP, MD BPW, Washington Co, Sharpsburg, SHAF, CWPT,
SHARP, TCF, WCLQF, Citizen’s Advisory Committee, et.al.
What have we learned? State investments in Civil War site preservation pay
dividends in the form of tourism revenue
Maryland Civil War Trails established by DBED
South Mountain Civil War State Battlefield designated
Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area established by MHT
Success of POS/TEA21 Civil War site preservation was model for Rural Legacy Program in 1997
Targeted multiple-resources for preservation around protected Civil War sites – expanded contiguous land preservation
Multi-agency State & Local land preservation strategy
Mid-Maryland Washington Rural Legacy Area around Antietam
Mid-Maryland Frederick Rural Legacy Area around South Mountain
Preserving Maryland’s
Civil War Battlefields
Thank You!
H. Grant Dehart
(410) 280 6272