Media Advisory: NPS Director Jarvis Joins Civil War Trust for Important Preservation Announcement on Wilderness Battlefield

(Locust Grove, Va.) – National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis will join the Civil War Trust on Saturday, May 3, 2014, for a major preservation announcement tied to the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Wilderness. The event will celebrate the successes of public-private partnerships in protecting and interpreting Civil War sites across the nation.

The news conference will begin at noon at Saunders Field on the Wilderness Battlefield, near the intersection of Hill-Ewell Drive and Route 20 (Constitution Highway) in Orange County, Va.  Director Jarvis will be joined at the event by Civil War Trust president James Lighthizer, Trust chairman emeritus John L. Nau, III, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (NMP) Superintendent Lucy Lawliss and other preservation leaders.

Parking will be on Hill-Ewell Drive. The event will begin at noon, following the conclusion of the National Park Service Overland Campaign Opening Ceremony at the nearby Spotsylvania Court House unit of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP.  Refreshments will be available during and after the event.

WHAT:    Major Preservation Announcement for 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Wilderness

WHO:     NPS director Jonathan B. Jarvis, Civil War Trust president James Lighthizer and chairman emeritus John L. Nau, III, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP superintendent Lucy Lawliss

WHEN:    Saturday, May 3 at noon EDT

WHERE:    Saunders Field at the intersection of Hill-Ewell Drive and Route 20, Wilderness Battlefield, Orange County, VA 22508

Civil War Trust is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States. Its mission is to preserve our nation’s endangered Civil War battlefields and to promote appreciation of these hallowed grounds. To date, it has preserved more than 38,500 acres of battlefield land in 20 states, including 209 acres at the Wilderness.