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Battlefield preservation groups asking Corps of Engineers to take another look at permit for developing portion of Mullins farm on Chancellorsville battlefield. Date published: 5/29/2003
With the smoke barely clear from their most recent skirmish, battlefield preservationists and a Spotsylvania County landowner are going at it again--this time over a federal permit. The Civil War Preservation Trust and several other preservation groups want the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take a more detailed look at Civil War history on a portion of John Mullins' farm, which spans part of the Chancellorsville battlefield. The trust, which has been fighting a string of development plans on Mullins' property, contends that the corps has failed to properly review Mullins' plan to develop the 273-acre Orrock-Ashley tract. It charges that the corps has not properly defined the permit area and has not done the necessary environmental, historical and archaeological fieldwork. Further, it says that the corps is proceeding under a generic nationwide permit when it should have required Mullins to proceed under a more thorough individual permit. Under federal rules, the agency may consider any impact on historic sites as part of its permit review and can require developers to change their plans to mitigate potential damage during construction. "The corps is looking at narrow road issues. We think that they should look at the broader picture," said Elizabeth S. Merritt, an attorney for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "I think the bottom line is that we want a greater degree of mitigation than the corps is willing to require." The land is considered hallowed ground by preservationists because it was the scene of first-day fighting in May 1863. The tract is within the Chancellorsville Battlefield Historic District. Jim Campi, director of policy and communications for the Civil War Preservation Trust, said another problem with the permit is that the corps has decided to take the unusual step of terminating consultation, effectively cutting off further historical investigation on the land. Bruce F. Williams, chief of the corps' Northern Virginia regulatory office, said in a May 16 letter to the Civil War Preservation Trust the decision was made because various agencies involved could not agree on the permit area, or the mitigation that would be required. Williams said the consulting parties were given ample opportunity to comment on five separate occasions.
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