Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
In a vote Wednesday, the subcommittee also froze boundaries of the Shenandoah National Park, limiting the park to lands owned by the federal government except for ``minor adjustments'' to improve roads, trails and other points of public access.
The legislation would permit planned private gifts of three tracts to the Richmond park, totaling 865 acres and more than doubling the park's size from its current 763 acres.
But Democrats contended that important Civil War battlegrounds were excluded, including New Market Heights in eastern Henrico County, where bravery by 14 black federal soldiers earned them Army Medals of Honor.
During the entire Civil War, only two other Army Medals of Honor were awarded to black soldiers.
``This is an important site in black history, and it's being jettisoned from the park,'' complained Rep. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, senior Democrat on the House national parks subcommittee.
But Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, chairman of the national parks subcommittee and author of the bill, said it wouldn't preclude further expansion of Richmond National Battlefield Park if Congress approves.
``This [measure] substantially expands the park. ... It is unclear how much further we can expand the park, when the superintendent already reports an annual operating shortfall of $1.5 million,'' Hansen said.
Hansen's bill revised earlier legislation by Rep. Thomas J. Bliley, R-Richmond.
The subcommittee also modified a plan to preserve Civil War battlefields in the Shenandoah Valley, with authorized funds scaled back from $25 million to $7 million.
When Bliley introduced his bill earlier, he said he was responding to citizen worries. At Richmond National Battlefield and Shenandoah National parks, boundaries authorized by Congress are much greater than the federally owned lands that the parks encompass.
His legislation was aimed at removing a ``cloud'' over property titles of residents worried about possible park expansion, Bliley said, while permitting expansion if Congress approves.
The National Park Service objected, saying boundaries should not be redrawn before completion of extensive land studies that are under way.
New Market Heights is one of seven battlefields in the Richmond area, and 50 nationwide, that a congressional commission in 1993 identified as the most endangered Civil War battlefields.
A portion of the New Market Heights battlefield is included in county-owned land intended for development as Four Mile Creek Park.
``There are entrenchments, breastworks and fortifications we believe were part of that battle,'' Henrico Supervisor James B. Donati Jr. said Wednesday. ``We're preserving that.''
Donati, a supporter of the federal boundary freeze bill, said nothing would prevent preservation groups from buying property and giving it to the Park Service to protect New Market Heights, as long as Congress approves.
by CNB