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Where is everyone now that the battle is over? Date published: 11/18/2009
Now that the Walmart fight in the Wilderness has been removed from the news, the Wilderness battlefield is once again the forgotten battlefield.
What was a regular stop for people to see during the "Walmart Battle" has fewer and fewer visitors daily. If they count the number of vehicles going into the site, they would probably find that most are vehicles turning around and people stopping to stretch. If you do stop to see the battlefield, you are no longer able to see the earthworks or walk the grounds. Why? It's because of budget cuts, which I fully understand. The Park Service keeps only part of the area cut. The rest of the site is becoming overgrown. There is a small local group of volunteers who help keep Ellwood and the battlefield up as best they can, and I applaud them for their efforts. What you don't see are the Robert Duvalls and Vermont senators and all the other vocal people who fought Walmart. If these people are so loyal to this cause, then why can't they bring their lawn mowers, chain saws, weed eaters, and idle time to maintain this battlefield? I bet they are back home putting their noses where they don't belong. They've turned tail and run. I bet we never see or hear from them again, and except for history books and the shoppers passing by on the way to Walmart, the battlefield will be an overgrown, forgotten piece of history. Kalvin Kurtz Orange
Mr. Kurtz obviously doesn't visit the battlefield much himself. There are always visitors there. One can easily walk the grounds and see the trenches on Saunders Field and Widow Tapp field. If he'd been there, he would have seen for himself.
I'm not sure why one would want to mow the battlefield. It's not like Civil War era residents had lawn mowers.
As soon as it was approved the haters went quiet. Other than the outlandish lawsuit that has no merit whatsoever, which will be tossed out in February he is right on point. Where is Robert Duvall? Where are the Vermont and Texas Senator's still condemning this? Oh yeah, they didn't really care one way or the other, they just hoped it would gain them some more votes back home while also keeping Duvall in the spotlight to maybe gain him some more TV time in Hollywood. If they cared they'd still be yapping.
but the Walmart fight as you call it is now in the Courts. In the mean time outsiders like me and folks from all over are trying to buy nearby land to preserve the Wilderness battlefield. Sounds like you want to help.If you do contact the CWPT. Also, the NPS takes $ donations. There is a big jar in the visitors center, but leave your weed-wacker behind.
Just because people don't continue to return to the scene of that "battle" doesn't mean they don't care. Having the community maintain the park is a wonderful idea, but I thing the Park Service might have a problem with liability among other things. No matter how much the area is taken over by weeds, trees,etc., the land is still protected and in the care of the Park Service. It is still a memorial to thousands of brave soldiers of the South and North who sacrificed much for what they believed.
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