WalMart at the Wilderness

[Kerflumoxed]

Wilderness Walmart Preservation Victory!
Thanks to all who worked to preserve the land!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2011

For more information, contact:
Jim Campi, (202) 367-1861 x7205
Mary Koik, (202) 367-1861 x7231

WALMART ABANDONS PLANS TO BUILD SUPERCENTER ON WILDERNESS BATTLEFIELD

Preservation community pleased with decision by retail giant to drop plans to build a supercenter within historic boundaries of Wilderness battlefield

(Orange, Va.) – In an unexpected development, Walmart announced this morning that it has abandoned plans to pursue a special use permit previously awarded to the retail giant for construction of a supercenter on the Wilderness Battlefield. The decision came as the trial in a legal challenge seeking to overturn the special use permit was scheduled to begin in Orange County circuit court.

“We are pleased with Walmart’s decision to abandon plans to build a supercenter on the Wilderness battlefield,” remarked James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Trust. “We have long believed that Walmart would ultimately recognize that it is in the best interests of all concerned to move their intended store away from the battlefield. We applaud Walmart officials for putting the interests of historic preservation first. Sam Walton would be proud of this decision.”

The Civil War Trust is part of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition, an alliance of local residents and national groups seeking to protect the Wilderness battlefield. Lighthizer noted that the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition has sought from the very beginning to work with county officials and Walmart to find an alternative location for the proposed superstore away from the battlefield.

“We stand ready to work with Walmart to put this controversy behind us and protect the battlefield from further encroachment,” Lighthizer stated. “We firmly believe that preservation and progress need not be mutually exclusive, and welcome Walmart as a thoughtful partner in efforts to protect the Wilderness Battlefield.”

In August 2009, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a controversial special use permit to allow construction of the Walmart Supercenter and associated commercial development on the Wilderness Battlefield. A wide range of prominent individuals and organizations publicly opposed the store’s location, including more than 250 American historians led by Pulitzer Prize-winners James McPherson and David McCullough. One month after the decision, a group of concerned citizens and the local Friends of Wilderness Battlefield filed a legal challenge to overturn the decision.

The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–6, 1864, was one of the most significant engagements of the American Civil War. Of the 185,000 soldiers who entered combat amid the tangled mass of second-growth trees and scrub in Virginia’s Orange and Spotsylvania counties, some 30,000 became casualties. The Wilderness Battlefield Coalition, composed of Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, Piedmont Environmental Council, Preservation Virginia, National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Parks Conservation Association, and Civil War Trust, seeks to protect this irreplaceable local and national treasure.

The Civil War Trust is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States. Its mission is to preserve our nation’s endangered Civil War battlefields and to promote appreciation of these hallowed grounds. To date, the Trust has preserved nearly 30,000 acres of battlefield land in 20 states. Learn more at www.civilwar.org.

J :woohoo:

[RDBoles]

Way to go

[Taiaha]

Outstanding. This is a big win.

[Little Powell]

Awesome! Maybe it was my email to the president of Walmart that did it... lol

[Armchair General]

Awesome! Maybe it was my email to the president of Walmart that did it... lol

I wonder how many he actually got? I sent him one too.

[Michael Slaunwhite]

Hi.

That is good news, but what concerns me that they would even think of doing it in the first place. They obviously do not have a moral bone in their bodies...but what do you expect out of any corporation (I have no love or compassion for them).

I am very happy you folks have stopped this because they wouldn't have done it if you haven't said anything.

Later!

[Icebox64]

I have worked for walmart for the last 2 years and I'll asure you they care about nothing but the allmighty dollar.

[drhet58]

Great Victory...For the souls of those who shed blood upon the ground, on all the battlefields, so that this great nation might endure and prosper. We live from history, and grow from the knowledge. To even think that anybody would attempt to destroy any sacred ground is beyond my comprehension. The grounds upon which the contestants fought and died for should be walked upon with reverence, not a place where tourists can purchase trinkets and say "I was there". One must understand the ground that they trod, but alas, very few do. To the wounded boy who lies upon the the ground, staring towards the clouds above, wishing for the maggots to feed upon his gaping wound to relieve the last throes of pain, hundreds of miles from home, alone, knowing he'll never see anyone dear to him ever again...We owe it to him, and all the countless others, to remember and preserve what little we can.

Your Obt. Serv't
Donald R. Hetrick