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Battlefield preservation planning on fast track
BY JAMES JACENICH + STAFF WRITER
 | | Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation board of trustees chairman Dr. Irvin Hess listened as the McDowell Battlefield preservation plan committee discussed the process ahead. (Recorder photo by James Jacenich) |
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MONTEREY - After two years of often heated discussion, it looks like the McDowell Battlefield will finally get a preservation plan - and it will be done over the course of five meetings.
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation executive director Howard Kittell, accompanied by SVBF board of trustees members and Highland residents Jim White and Don Hower, met last Wednesday with Highland supervisors Lee Blagg and Jerry Rexrode and former McDowell Battlefield Advisory and Review committee members Bryan Obaugh and Doug Gutshall.
Rexrode spent several minutes telling Kittell development was important to McDowell. "How much further do you want to go in the core area?" he asked him, adding, "McDowell is a potential growth area we have to look at."
The battlefield core area surrounds McDowell. Potential growth has been a point of contention among many landowners there. The core battlefield area consists of 2,258 acres around Sitlington Hill and the Bullpasture River, scene of the heaviest fighting during the battle of McDowell May 7-8, 1862. Those opposed to expanding battlefield preservation beyond Sitlington Hill are concerned that housing, infrastructure and economic development would be hampered if the core area were kept as it was in 1862.
Obaugh, former chair of the advisory committee, interrupted Rexrode, saying those questions and points had been made before and it was time to move on with a preservation plan. "Everything we have said tonight, we have said before," he said.
Rexrode said he and Blagg weren't part of the previous discussions and insisted he wanted to make his own points in his own way.
"The foundation completely agrees (there needs to be areas set aside for growth)," Kittell reassured supervisors. Citing another battlefield in the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, Kittell said, "Newmarket is another community where the town of Newmarket sits right in the middle of it (core area). Where is it realistic to preserve land?"
He acknowledged Highland County had limited areas for development and the county had a right to consider how best to balance the somewhat opposing needs for preservation and development in McDowell.
Hower noted the law was on the foundation's side, and the county could do nothing to stop the foundation if it wanted to buy land in the core area and the owner was willing to sell.
By an act of Congress in 1996, the battlefields historic district was formed and the mandate for preservation was given. The law, however, stipulates land can only be acquired by the foundation from willing sellers. "If a landowner wanted us to buy his land, the law that was passed says we must look at it," said Hower. "We've set up a system to evaluate land to see how important it was during the battle. We would be disobeying that law if we didn't preserve that piece of property, if it was a real battlefield site. We have nothing under consideration now; that doesn't say we couldn't have if somebody came to us."
Hower said there was a procedure in place to obtain permission to put infrastructure (such as underground pipelines) on preserved land. "At least you aren't completely shut out," he told supervisors.
Blagg said he understood Congressman Bob Goodlatte to say the purpose of the law was not to buy the entire property, but to buy a small amount of land so visitors could observe where key Civil War battles took place. But Hower disagreed, saying Goodlatte sponsored the law and knew $4 million was set aside by law to buy land. "That's more than a parcel," said Hower.
Kittell brought the discussion back to the preservation plan. "Hower and I sometimes disagree on another component of the legislation, but it is very clear in black and white that we must work with local government - it is very clear. It goes as far as to say we won't challenge local policies. We take that very seriously. That's where I think a discussion of the comprehensive plan for the county and how it pertains to McDowell is very important, it will help us to make decisions and you to make decisions," he said.
Kittell agreed most of the land on Sitlington Hill was protected (east of the Bullpasture River) if not by the foundation, then by other organizations with interest and property in the battlefield, including the Civil War Preservation Trust, the Lee-Jackson Foundation and the Highland Historical Society. Of those, only the Highland Historical Society has had direct discussions with the county about its preservation goals. The others have worked with private individuals to secure the land they wanted to purchase, as they are legally entitled to do, regardless of the wishes of the community.
On the west side of the Bullpasture, the foundation bought the Ralston property because it contains a plateau overlooking McDowell where guns were placed during the battle (it was a significant part in the battle). Because the Ralston family did not want to sell only part of the property, the foundation bought more land than it needed for battlefield interpretation. To get a part, the foundation had to buy the whole.
Other than filling in a few gaps, "There are probably not other pieces of property that would be a high priority," Kittell said. "That being said, we are not the only battlefield entity, we can't speak for (other groups). It might not be a bad idea to get those other entities and say, 'What are your priorities?'"
Kittell told supervisors the SVBF was but one player in McDowell Battlefield preservation and the foundation had no authority or control over the activity of individuals or organizations that choose to buy land for preservation purposes.
He said a preservation plan for the foundation and county could be done in four meetings, not in nine months as Obaugh said a foundation staffer had told him.
A $50,000 plan consisting of hundreds of pages of documentation like other battlefields have wouldn't be necessary here, Kittell explained, and discussions in Highland had caused the foundation to reassess its position on preservation and development in the nine battlefields it is responsible for.
"It's important to have both (preservation and development), Kittell said. "Tell us what you want to keep open for development, we'll tell you what we must have to preserve the battlefield."
"If this is to be part of the comp plan, it should be done in the same format," said Gutshall. "We need goals, objectives and strategies. What are you going to do in the future?" Gutshall is a county planner and member of the comprehensive plan review committee.
"Let's take a good look (as supervisors) and decide this is what we want to keep for the future; this is what we want to preserve from the past," said Rexrode. "We have to look at conservation easements. They can devastate a growth area."
Rexrode said 54,000 acres of Highland County was U.S. National Forest and 14,000 acres belonged to the state game commission. It is hard to give up even more land to preservation because that further limits development opportunities that could increase the county's tax base, he said.
"I've learned in the last few months, don't rush the comp plan - do it right," said Rexrode.
"But it can come back to bite you," said Kittell. "It certainly can," Rexrode agreed.
Kittell again shifted the focus to the preservation plan.
"Bryan is right, we need to outline steps to take," said Kittell.
Other plans typically cost thousands of dollars, but the McDowell plan could be done for much less money because there is less development here, Kittell said.
He recommended doing an overlay of growth with preservation so neither one is in conflict with the other.
The next meeting would take a closer look at development and preservation, and potential conflicts. The preservation committee will develop a rough draft of a plan at the next meeting, followed by additional meetings to fine-tune the document.
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