SVBF Releases Preservation Plan for Fisher’s Hill and Tom’s Brook Battlefields

Landowner-directed plan also receives preservation award.

 

Contact: Howard J. Kittell/SVBF Executive Director (540-740-4545 x202) or John D. Hutchinson/SVBF Resource Protection Program Manager (540-740-4545 x203)

 

STRASBURG, Va.—The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and Shenandoah County formally released a preservation plan for the Fisher’s Hill and Tom’s Brook battlefields at the Old Mill Restaurant in Strasburg today.  The plan documents the battles themselves, identifies land protection priorities, and suggests possible preservation techniques for these battlefields.

The plan was developed by a Citizens Steering Committee of local landowners with advice from the county and other stakeholders.  The effort was coordinated by the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation as part of its preservation mission which is defined in the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District Management Plan.  The committee was assisted by Sympoetica, a planning and design firm headquartered in Woodstock, Virginia .  Phoebe Kilby and Barry Carpenter of Sympoetica and Dr. Joseph Whitehorne of Lord Fairfax Community College were the principal consultants on the project.  The Fisher’s Hill and Tom’s Brook battlefields are south and west of Strasburg, straddling Interstate 81 and US Route 11.

“The Steering Committee determined that decisive steps should be taken to protect the farmland and rural character of northern Shenandoah County and the battlefields those farms harbor,” John D. Hutchinson, who oversaw the project for the Battlefields Foundation, said.  “Consequently the plan includes an action agenda that calls for a combination of conservation easement and fee simple land acquisition, good local land use planning, and measures to support the local farm economy to protect the battlefields,” he said.

Funding for the plan was provided by a grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service with matching funds from the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.  The plan is already being implemented by a number of battlefield landowners who are working with the Battlefields Foundation to place their land under conservation easements.  Others have offered to sell land to the Foundation so that it will be preserved, pending completion of appraisals and other steps that must be taken to determine value.

The Citizens Steering Committee also received the Shenandoah Preservation League’s annual preservation award today. The League announces these awards to recognize excellence in historic preservation by individuals, organizations, and government.  The committee is being honored for their hard work in guiding Shenandoah County and the Battlefields Foundation in the preparation of a comprehensive preservation plan for these two Civil War battlefields.

Shenandoah County and the Battlefields Foundation already own 330 acres in three parcels on the Fisher’s Hill battlefield.  The county and other partners have protected 61 acres at Tom’s Brook. One of the largest properties in the core area at Tom’s Brook is the county’s Poor Farm property.  Both the preservation plan and the new Shenandoah County Comprehensive Plan call for the county to consider permanent protection for this property through a conservation easement.

“Landowner initiatives such as this plan represent one of the strongest ways to preserve the Shenandoah Valley ’s Civil War battlefields,” commented Battlefields Foundation Executive Director Howard J. Kittell .  “The Battlefields Foundation was glad to have been the catalyst in getting the process started and is very pleased with the committee’s work.  We are also extremely grateful for the assistance of the American Battlefields Protection Program and Shenandoah County —this plan is truly an example of the benefits of strong partnerships. This project establishes a model for future battlefield preservation plans in the Shenandoah Valley .”

Sympoetica consultant Phoebe Kilby pointed out, “This plan counts on the joint efforts of all of the stakeholders.  It’s not just the Battlefields Foundation that would do this or the county or the landowners—it’s all of the partners working together.”

The Fisher’s Hill and Tom’s Brook Battlefields Preservation Plan is the second such plan coordinated by the Battlefields Foundation.  In 2002, the Foundation worked with Rockingham County and landowners at the Cross Keys and Port Republic battlefields to create a similar plan for those battlefield areas. 

“These preservation plans are an example of one of the tools in the preservation toolbox used by the Battlefields Foundation as we fulfill our congressional mandate to preserve Civil War battlefields in the Shenandoah Valley,” noted Kittell.  “Using this tool and others such as conservation and historic easements, we will continue to work with local landowners and governments to ensure that the Shenandoah Valley ’s Civil War history is preserved for the nation.”

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Created by Congress in 1996, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District encompasses Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Winchester .  As authorized by the Secretary of the Interior, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation serves as the non-profit management entity for the District, partnering with local, regional and national organizations and governments to preserve the Shenandoah Valley ’s Civil War battlefields and interpret and promote the Valley’s Civil War story for the region and the nation.

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ON THE WEB:

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District:

www.ShenandoahAtWar.org

National Park Service 1992 study of the Shenandoah Valley ’s Civil War battlefields:

http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/shenandoah/svs0-1.html

 

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