Cedar Creek & Belle Grove
Draft GMP Input Welcomed
(February/March 2009 Civil War News)

MIDDLETOWN, Va. — The National Park Service welcomes public comments until Feb. 27 on its Draft General Management Plan (GMP) and Environmental Impact Statement for Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park.

Local meetings were scheduled in late January and written comments are welcome. The document is available for download under “open for comment” at parkplanning.nps.gov/cebe. Hard copies of the plan may be obtained by contacting the park at (540) 868-9176. CDs and printed copies are also available.

The preferred method of comment is on the Web site listed above. Comments may also be mailed to Superintendent Diann Jacox, Cedar Creek and Belle Grove NHP, P.O. Box 700, Middletown, VA 22645.

The park includes Belle Grove Manor House and Cedar Creek Battlefield, site of the Oct. 19, 1864, battle that ended Confederate control of the Shenandoah Valley.

The National Park Service (NPS) has collaborated with its federal advisory commission and five legislated key partners – Belle Grove Inc., the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Shenandoah County, and the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation — to produce a plan that protects important park resources and provides quality visitor experiences, according to Jacox.

She said the GMP, once reviewed and finalized, would guide the management of the park for the next 20 years. It will be the park’s first GMP. The park was created by Congress in late 2002 as a “partnership” park unit, the partners including the adjacent towns of Middletown and Strasburg and Frederick, Shenandoah and Warren counties, as well as the key partner entities that own or hold easements on 1,339 acres of battlefield. The authorized boundary encompasses 3,713 acres.

As with all NPS general management plan processes, this one includes alternatives ranging from continuation of current management through to a preferred alternative. They are detailed in the draft’s Chapter 2.

The preferred Alternative D calls for the NPS and Key Partners to develop “a coordinated land protection plan focused on acquisition of cultural landscapes, sensitive natural resource areas, and lands providing connections between NPS and Key Partner properties,” to be acquired from willing sellers.

Also, management efforts “would seek to protect scenic and related resources outside the park.”

The NPS and its partners would have formal agreements to define responsibilities for special projects, programs, events and specific park operations.

This alternative includes an NPS visitor center, many non-motorized trails for public access, driving tours, more visitor facilities with connections to trails, and additional interpretation of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District.

By contrast, the status quo Alternative A reflects a less cohesive approach, with the properties providing visitor access, interpretation and management independently, and the NPS giving technical assistance and whatever national recognition and visibility come by being part of the national park system.