Friday, January 28, 2011

Battlefield groups help Resaca preservation

The Georgia Battlefields Association is contributing $50,000 toward the purchase of land preserving a portion of the 1864 Resaca battlefield.

The Trust for Public Land(TPL) bought the 474 acres in 2008, which was part of the Confederate right, and tried to sell it to a preservation-minded owner, but it has settled on a conservation easement on the land, worth about $1.55 million.

GBA leader Charlie Crawford recently talked with the Civil War Trust, which also is involved.

"Since land values have fallen over the last two years, TPL has been unable to sell the property without a loss and was unsuccessful in getting an American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) grant," he told the Civil War Trust. "TPL consequently proposed a conservation easement to lessen the amount that a buyer would need to raise. After getting an appraisal for $1,550,000, TPL was able to get commitments of $1,350,000 from ABPP, $100,000 from Gordon County, and $100,000 from the Civil War Trust. Georgia Battlefields Association is giving $50,000 towards the Civil War Trust’s $100,000 commitment."

On May 13-15, 1864, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s army and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate Army of Tennessee bloodied each other at Resaca. There was no clear winner. Sherman continued his march toward Atlanta, which he took several months later.

Charlie Crawford Q&A with Civil War Trust
Picket articles on the GBA and the Hell Hole battles

No comments:

Post a Comment