Talking Points About the Civil War
Battlefield Preservation Program

BATTLEFIELD PRESERVATION PROGRAM

• Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program – has become the primary federal program for preserving battlefield land in the U.S.
• Program has been used to save 14,000 acres of land in 14 states.
• Congress has appropriated $33 million for the program since FY1999
• Throughout its history, program has enjoyed bipartisan support in House and Senate
• Matching grants formula encourages nonprofit sector and state and local government investment in historic preservation. Competitively awarded by the American Battlefield Preservation Program (ABPP). Land acquired from willing sellers only.
• 1993 CWSAC report recommended that Congress create a $10 million a year “emergency” program to save Civil War battlefield land. Most ever allocated was $5 million a year in FY2005.

REAUTHORIZATION

• Authorization signed into law in December 2002 expires on September 30, 2008. Reauthorization of this highly successful program is needed.
• In 2002, the original authorization bill sailed through the House and Senate and was passed by unanimous consent at the end of the session. We would like to see a similar result this time around.
• Bipartisan legislation was recently introduced in the House and Senate to reauthorize the highly successful Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program.
• In the House, Congressmen Gary Miller (R-CA) and Bart Gordon (D-TN) introduced the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2007 (H.R. 2933) with the support of 22 original cosponsors. In the Senate, Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) introduced a similar bill (S. 1921) with 17 original cosponsors.
  
• Reauthorization bill calls for $10 million a year for five years. This amount reflects 1993 CWSAC recommendation that has never been fully implemented, even though land prices have skyrocketed in the 14 years since the report was released.
• Reauthorization also maintains the competitive matching grants formula that has been so successful in the past. Acquisition is from willing sellers who own property outside NPS boundaries.
• Timing couldn’t be better – reauthorization will help us prepare for the upcoming sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War, 2011 through 2015. The commemoration is expected to stimulate renewed interest in the conflict and generate unprecedented visitation to preserved Civil War battlegrounds.
• The Civil War Preservation Trust is committed to raising the $10 million a year (minimum) match required of the private sector.