Bad Decisions at Cedar Creek

Thu 19th Jun 2008 at 11:57 pm

Eric, did you ask them about their poor decision?

Fri 20th Jun 2008 at 3:28 pm

That just makes no damn sense at all………what a terrible decision!!!! What moron is running things down there and what the Hell are they thinking?????

Sat 21st Jun 2008 at 7:04 am

Was just there last weekend (see my blog link above for photos and details of my trip). This is terrible news, but not surprising. 8 acres of land will be preserved in exchange for wrecking the overall appearance. Shameful.

Short-term thinking is what is getting America into trouble.

Wed 25th Jun 2008 at 5:11 am

Greetings to you fellow reenactors and supporters~ In regards to Cedar Creek and the land rezoning in Middletown, Virginia, I hope I can reassure you by telling you that the information that has been posted to the public has been, for a lack of a better word, lopsided. The Civil War Preservation Trust and The National Trust were both aware of the situation at Cedar Creek and have done their best, like the rest of us, to spread the word about the threats to Cedar Creek. On a personal note, battlefield preservation is my paid position in Hampton Roads, and I love what I do. I work for many historic sites and battlefields and understand the tactics that developers and land acquisitioners use to get plans approved. Out of all of the sites I work with, Cedar Creek is the one I hold dearest to my heart- I applied for and had granted the APVA designation for Cedar Creek Battlefield last year as the top 10 most endangered historic sites in America-thanks to proactive citizens and community leaders working together, we’ve been able to spread the word of this endangered site.Ultimately, these verbal attacks on CCBF via outside uninformed sources, are taken personally by each person serving on the board, as well as our volunteer base, and our supportive community (both regionally and nationwide) . CCBF’s organization has had 20 years of public service in protecting this nation’s War of the States history and we are continuing to do this now.

The board members of Cedar Creek also are board members for Belle Grove Plantation, the National Park Service’s Advisory Commission, town councils and the group Preserve Frederick. As the rumors are spreading from certain people in the community to the newspapers, they are not realizing that the very groups they represent who are calling on explanations, are actually intertwined with Cedar Creek and fully aware of what is happening with the rezoning, the Quarry and the movement towards preserving parcels of land adjacent to the Quarry itself.

All partners were working on their own angle of negotiations. Preserve Frederick put out their compromise of letting the Quarry taking the ‘Northern’ Parcel, the one adjacent to Cedar Creek Battlefield, in the Summer 2007, others continued to flatly say no, and others tried to realize that like most large land rezonings, typically, the property owner will get their approval as long as they abide by their city/county’s stipulations. Below is Suzanne Chilson’s response that was sent out to the reenactment community today and I wanted to be sure that you were able to read it and we welcome your questions or responses. I appreciate your long-standing support for Cedar Creek and its partners in the Valley. We don’t want to lose your support or your attendance at the reenactment, the lack of support from our reenactment community would be taking a huge step backwards in trying to preserve something that all of us cherish. We do need your support in not only attendance, but verbally as well. Our group will continue to work for the better of the areas of Middletown, Cedar Creek and Strasburg and I hope that at this year’s reenactment, I will have the opportunity to meet you all. Thank you again for your past support and hopefully in advance for your future strong advocacy.

Julie Clevenger
Board of Directors
Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation
P.O. Box 229
Middletown, Virginia 22645
540-869-2064

cedarcrk@visuallink.com

http://www.cedarcreekbattlefield.org

June 23, 2008

To Our Reenactor Partners, Sponsors and Supporters:

There has recently been some negative and misleading publicity about the successful efforts of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation to secure a binding agreement from O-N Mineral’s, (Carmeuse) to support preservation efforts and contribute to the shared goals of creating a reserve of property for further preservation efforts. We felt that we owe it to all of our reenactor partners, sponsors, supporters and the public to set the record straight. Contrary to the negative and incomplete information spread by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove, Inc., the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation stood alone and successfully took the initiative to preserve and protect core battlefield land and artifacts.

After twenty years of intense and dedicated preservation efforts on the part of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, (“CCBF”), we are deeply saddened and surprised that any entity would issue a public statement that so inappropriately characterizes the activities and intentions of the CCBF and its members. For this reason, we believe the facts concerning our relationship with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Belle Grove, Inc., (collectively designated “Belle Grove”), and Carmeuse, (the “Quarry”), need be disclosed.

Reenactments

CCBF held its first reenactment in 1990, and since that time has occasionally used additional property from Belle Grove, depending on the number of reenactors attending an event. In 1999, Belle Grove required a payment of $6,000 for the use of a few acres behind the plantation and reserved the right to cancel the agreement at anytime and for any reason. CCBF considered this unacceptable, and for the next several years, the event was held solely on CCBF lands. CCBF rented land from Belle Grove for the 140th Anniversary Reenactment in 2004, and through 2007. In addition to paying all the expenses associated with hosting the reenactments, CCBF has paid over $68,000 to Belle Grove since 1999.

First and foremost, our reenactment will continue this fall as it always has. Through the hard work of our many dedicated reenactors, sponsors and volunteers, we will continue our reenactment activities as scheduled on October 18 & 19, 2008, so that preservation, educational activities and respect for our heritage and history can continue. The reenactment will take place on the core battlefield lands owned by the CCBF, as it has for many years. The CCBF Board voted several months ago not to use the Belle Grove property this year due to the high cost of renting the land ($5,000 for 3 days).

Quarry

FACT – After almost two years of waiting for the local preservation partnership group to negotiate a position, two weeks before the quarry rezoning public hearing, the CCBF stood alone in attempting to negotiate with the Quarry to ensure responsible preservation efforts and responsible land use. Ever since the rezoning issue appeared, our organization had opposed the application, because none of the concerns the CCBF raised had ever been adequately addressed. However, it also became clear to our board members that the “just say no” policy was not a practical position to take when we learned that the limestone vein adjacent to the Battlefield was of the highest quality valued at least $300 million dollars. With the prospect that the Quarry operations would continue as planned, CCBF alone sought to intercede, negotiate and obtain commitments from the Quarry that would enhance and continue our preservation efforts. We were able to secure such an agreement from the Quarry and, more importantly, secured an agreement that would bind the Quarry whether or not its rezoning efforts succeeded.

On April 23, 2008, just hours before the Frederick County Board of Supervisors public hearing, CCBF President Hirschberg signed an agreement with the Quarry guaranteeing the following:

Ø Berms: To improve and enhance the viewshed, the Quarry will reduce the height of the berms around the pits that are visible from the Heater House fields and main battlefield. In addition, the Quarry will landscape the berms with a mixture of deciduous and coniferous plantings. The agreement reached between the Quarry and CCBF was crafted to eliminate or significantly reduce the visibility of the existing processing plant when viewed from Route 11. For two decades, the number one complaint from both reenactors and spectators has been having the processing plant as the backdrop to the battlefield. We believe protecting the viewshed is critical to the experience that our reenactors and visitors enjoy. Its mitigation will become the single most important improvement to the vista of the entire park for years to come. This was the result of simply meeting one-on-one with the Quarry, and sharing our concerns. Berm construction will not occur in areas identified as historically significant.

Ø Cultural Resources: An eight acre tract previously identified as historically significant will be donated to CCBF within sixty days of the signing of the agreement. The Quarry and the CCBF have also agreed that there exists other historical resources, (U.S. VI Corps camp area), immediately adjacent to the eight acre parcel which may encompass an additional twenty acres more or less. These acres will also be deeded to the CCBF upon the completion of an archaeological study to confirm its significance. A joint archeological survey by Dr. Clarence Geier and Dr. Joseph Whitehorne, (both noted experts on the Civil War), will be conducted on all other properties under consideration for rezoning and such studies will be paid for by the Quarry.

Ø Artifacts: All artifacts discovered will become the property of the CCBF and will be held in trust for the public benefit.

Ø Additional Land Donation: As part of the agreement, other newly discovered areas of historical significance, (such as an area known locally as the Middletown Woods), may also be deeded to the CCBF. As a result, more core battlefield may/will be donated to CCBF pending the conclusion of the archeological survey.

In addition to the items mentioned above, the Quarry decreased the acreage in the rezoning application, (from 639 acres to 394 acres), restricted the number of truck loads to 86 per day, and instructed drivers to avoid Belle Grove and Chapel Roads. Also, CCBF has begun discussions with the Quarry concerning the possible placement of preservation easements on substantial amounts of core battlefield land.

In summary, CCBF has at all times acted honestly, responsibly and in a manner believed to be in keeping with the Foundation’s mission statement. Our efforts have always depended on the sustained goodwill and dedicated efforts of our many reenactors, sponsors and volunteers who have enabled us to preserve this important national treasure known as the Cedar Creek Battlefield. Our actions were intentionally designed to ensure that the preservation efforts of the past are enhanced, additional battlefield land is immediately secured, and strategies are implemented that will lead to future battlefield and artifact protection.

We look forward to seeing you on October 18 & 19.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation,

Suzanne Chilson

Executive Director

Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation

P.O. Box 229

Middletown, Virginia 22645

540-869-2064

cedarcrk@visuallink.com

http://www.cedarcreekbattlefield.org

Fri 27th Jun 2008 at 5:47 am

Very sad, to trade living history for rocks.
I know that this a simplified way of looking at it but in the end it boils down to exactly that.

Fri 15th Aug 2008 at 2:53 am

There is lots of badmouthing on this subject, but I have yet to hear a solution. The reenactors sites and the papers have complaints but nothing to solve the problem. I’m sure it’s gratifying to point fingers and to make one’s own lack of effort and concentration on this issue deflect to other groups (who by the way have been around alot longer than preserve frederick) but the real story, which I got from calling the folks at cedar creek, was that this plan b that I just read about above, gave up the majority of land around the battlefield in exchange for saving ‘preserve fredericks’ groups land around their houses. mrs chilson stated that plan b was not acceptable because it gave up the land and view all around their belle grove and the battlefield and asking a group dedicated to preserving this site would not include signing off on a plan this unreasonable and threatening. i’m not sure, but it sure seems that you are calling the kettle black by shaming anyone who’s a volunteer in preservation that does not involve their homes in the effort but rather saving history.