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The National Park Service (NPS) is beginning a special resource study of Shepherdstown Battlefield. In March 2009, Congress passed legislation (Public Law 111-11, Title VII, Subtitle C, Sec.7205) requiring a study to be undertaken to examine the significance of the battlefield and related sites, and determine if it would be suitable and feasible to add the battlefield and related sites as part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park or Antietam National Battlefield. The primary focus of this study will be on battlefield lands located about one mile southeast of Shepherdstown in Jefferson County, West Virginia. Most of these lands are privately owned. Some of the battlefield is also located in Washington County, Maryland on lands managed by the C&O Canal National Historical Park and nearby privately-owned farmlands that include special easements. The study will obtain information from professional historians and the general public during the information gathering stage of this project, planned for this summer and fall 2011, and then again when the draft study alternatives are presented. This study will follow National Park Service requirements for preparing special resource studies and boundary studies, as well as National Environmental Policy Act requirements. The study will take about one and a half years to complete. A report with findings and recommendations will then be submitted to Congress. As the study progresses, more information will be provided through press releases, a project website, and printed materials. |
Last updated: April 10, 2015