UPDATE: YOUR URGENT ACTION REQUIRED—
Does America Need a Walmart at the The Wilderness?

Do you believe a Walmart Supercenter belongs within sight of both the Wilderness and Chancellorsville battlefields?

Do you want to see the historical significance of both of these irreplaceable battlefields marred forever by more pavement, more traffic and more development that a Walmart Supercenter will bring in its wake?

And do you want to see this land – within easy artillery range of Ulysses Grant's headquarters during the battle of the Wilderness – turned into just another highway strip of big box stores, fast food joints and convenience stores?

If you just answered "No!" then I need you to make your voice officially heard. Below you will find actions that you can take today:

NEW! Send your concerns to the Orange County Supervisors through our online letter service

 

Consider making a donation to our “Stop Walmart Fund” – we will use those funds to energize our campaign against this unacceptable intrusion.

The Wilderness Battlefield is no place for a Walmart Supercenter.

As you can see from the map (PDF), Walmart is right now planning to build an enormous 141,000-square-foot “Walmart Supercenter” near the intersection of Routes 3 and 20, literally across the road from the existing Wilderness Battlefield, and not far from where Stonewall Jackson launched his flank attack during the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863.

And while the 52-acre site upon which Walmart wants to build is not noted by the Park Service as core battlefield, I believe that – much like the ill-advised Gettysburg Casino fiasco you and I defeated a couple of years ago – building a Walmart Supercenter on this site will lead to so much more traffic, sprawl and destructive development that you and I have no choice but to try to stop it.

Before I say another word, let me remind you that the Civil War Preservation Trust is NOT a knee-jerk, anti-development group; we do not assume that all developers are bad people, and we do not oppose responsible economic growth. In fact, there are several developers who have worked very closely with us to save battlefield land. We welcome and seek out such partnerships!

We appreciate the need for good jobs, and support well-planned economic expansion, effective land-use policies and increasing opportunities for communities through heritage tourism.

However, this “Wilderness Walmart” scheme is the wrong idea in the wrong place at the wrong time. And with your help today, CWPT can stay “in the field,” leading the charge with other national preservation groups who join us in opposing this “Wilderness Walmart”

There are already four Walmarts (three are “Supercenters”) within a 20-mile radius of the proposed site of this new one then if Walmart believes they have to have another store, CWPT will not oppose them in principle, just as long as they move it to a place where it does not harm hallowed ground where Americans laid down their lives.

First, it was a Formula One race track at Brandy Station. Then, the Walt Disney Company wanted to build a theme park near Manassas. A little later, a developer wanted to build 2,000 houses at Chancellorsville. Recently, you and I beat back one of the latest and most outrageous threats yet to a Civil War Battlefield: A gambling casino at Gettysburg!

But despite the struggling economy, some developers and companies have deep enough pockets to keep chugging right along, and they always seem to cast their insidious glances at the scenic, historic land on or around America’s Civil War battlefields.

(As an example of that, here is a copy of an actual letter we received recently, from a developer who had the audacity to write to ask if CWPT would consider selling a parcel of battlefield land that we have just saved at the Glendale battlefield! Unbelievable! I’ve blacked out their name and contact information, but the letter is real, and it just shows that – even in this economy – the developers are still poring over tax maps, looking for big parcels of land to buy and hold, waiting for the housing market to rebound.)

I’m sure that, like me, you consider the hallowed ground at The Wilderness to be a national shrine… a monument to American valor, determination and courage, and one of the places where the Civil War – and the nation – changed forever.

Discover the historical significance and how to help save history:   Read More >