5/11/2004

Battlefield preservation success stories from an organization local to the Shenandoah.

"Partnerships — both obvious and unlikely ones — lie at the root of each saved battlefield."

I'm open to argument on this, though I think partnerships will devour the precious time of a volunteer organization and enmesh people in useless politics. In this article at least they seem to be talking about civic partnerships that produce the desired results.

The desired result in battlefield conservation is always and only visitors on battlefield land.

The alternative concept in partnership is to team up with wildlife lovers and farmland conservators, the state, the county, the feds, and a myriad of other parties to encumber a piece of land through joint purchase of development rights. these partnerships keep people off battlefield land, but somehow allow groups to claim vistory for battlefield preservation.

We should keep an eye on these Shenandoah volunteers. The deep ditch of easement buying runs right next to the road they are travelling.