National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis recently announced the award of more than $3.8 million in grants to help with land acquisition at six Civil War battlefields.

Grant projects

include easement purchases at Cross Keys, Virginia ($181,125); Tom’s Brook, Virginia ($25,000); Buckland Mills, Virginia ($3,350,060); and fee simple acquisition at Mill Springs, Kentucky ($90,800); South Mountain, Maryland ($149,000); and Bentonville, North Carolina ($45,325).

The grants were made from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) to help states and local communities acquire and preserve threatened Civil War battlefield land outside the boundaries of National Park units. Priority was given to battlefields listed in the National Park Service’s Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields (CWSAC Report). Funds were awarded based on the property’s location within CWSAC-defined core and/or study areas, the threat to the battlefield land to be acquired, and the availability of required non-Federal matching funds.

The grant funds were made available under the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-10) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-74), which appropriated a combined $17,967,600 for the Civil War battlefield land acquisition grants program. Applications for the balance of the funds are accepted at any time. Criteria to consider in the applying for the Civil War Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants include:

• The LWCF Civil War Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants are awarded through a competitive process to units of state and local governments.
• Private non-profit groups may apply in partnership with state or local government sponsors;
• Each grant requires a dollar-for-dollar non-Federal match.
• Grants are available for the fee simple acquisition of land, or for the acquisition of permanent, protective interests in land at Civil War battlefields listed in the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’s (CWSAC) 1993 Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields.
• Higher consideration will be given to proposals for acquisition of endangered lands at battlefields defined as Priority I or II sites in the CWSAC report.

Complete guidelines for grant eligibility and application forms are available online at: https://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp

For further information, contact Kristen McMasters, Grants Manager, at 202-354-2037 or kristen_mcmasters@nps.gov

The list of grantees includes:

• Pulaski County, Ky.
  Mill Springs Battlefield, Gladstone Tract (Fee Simple) $90,800
• Department of Natural Resources, Md.
  South Mountain Battlefield, Tieman Tract (Fee Simple) $149,000
• North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, N.C.
  Bentonville Battlefield, Lawyers Mutual Tract (Fee Simple) $45,325
• Fauquier County, Va.
  Buckland Mills Battlefield, Bishop’s Run Tract (Easement) $2,300,000
• Fauquier County, Va.
  Buckland Mills Battlefield, Ted’s Tack Shack Tract (Easement) $804,864
• Fauquier County, Va.
  Buckland Mills Battlefield, Ted’s Tack Shack Tract (Easement) $245,196
• Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Va.
  Cross Keys Battlefield, Miller Tract (Easement) $181,125
• Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Va.
  Tom’s Brook Battlefield, Kibler Tract (Easement) $25,000

Total $3,841,310