Preserving The Park

One of the Foundation’s main goals is preserving the beautiful Ozarks landscape and preventing development from encroaching into the property surrounding the battlefield. As the Foundation continues its focus on the 615 acres identified in the 2004 Congressional boundary expansion bill, the fact that each day thirty acres of battlefield land is lost to development is ever before us. While no new parcels of land have been purchased this year, the Foundation was able to complete the transfer of 42 acres to the NPS. This parcel had previously been slated for a housing development when it was purchased by the Foundation in June 2007.

The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), a long-time supporter and partner of the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation, has helped with agricultural easements and land purchases to preserve portions of the battlefield’s boundary expansion area and other property surrounding Wilson’s Creek. The mission of the Civil War Preservation Trust is the preservation of America’s significant Civil War battlefields by protecting the land and educating the public about the vital roles those battlefields played in directing the course of our nation’s history.

For the first time ever the CWPT traveled west of the Mississippi to hold their annual conference at Springfield’s University Plaza Convention Center in April 2008. The event, billed as War in the Ozarks: Trans-Mississippi and Missouri, included visits to historic battlefield sites in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. For many participants it was their first chance to experience the well-preserved Civil War battlefields in this area, and they expressed a new appreciation for the significance of the Trans-Mississippi theater.

The Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation also was proud to be a recipient of the Seventh Annual Edwin C. Bearss Preservation Award. The award, which was instituted in 2001 by the Civil War Round Table of Chicago, honors two groups each year for their efforts in battlefield preservation. It is named for Edwin Bearss, in recognition of his many years of service to battlefield education and preservation. Mr. Bearss was for many years the head historian at the National Park Service. Making the honor especially unique is the fact that Ed himself picks the organizations that he deems worthy to receive the thousand-dollar award. The other recipient or the 2008 preservation award was Pea Ridge National Military Park.

We continue to communicate with land owners around the park as we build our preservation fund, in the hope that we will be prepared when an opportunity to purchase land from willing sellers or to help fund agricultural and scenic easements around the park presents itself.