Opinion

Opinion: Journey Through Hallowed Ground no threat to property rights

(Note: There is no mention of the author's ties with the Waterford Foundation: she is -- or was, as of the date of this source -- its president http://inetdocs.loudoun.gov/pio/docs/volunteerservic_/newsletters_/summer2004newsl/summer2004newsl.pdf. There is no mention that her profession is noted as "international consulting" http://aufax.american.edu/washsem/getrecord.cfm?Email=Camwyatt@aol.com. There is no mention of her position as president of "Wyatt & Co." http://www.sitemason.com/files/jliLFm/Conference%20Attendee%20List.pdf There is no mention that she is president of the "Save the Landmark Coalition." There is no mention of which "six national property rights groups" were contacted. Ther is no mention of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Victim Directories. There is no mention of the Waterford Foundation and other entities -- both governmental and non -- that lust for Control of the entire region's resources. While the sales pitch croons in emotional language deception, the cobweb is woven and the prey is sucked into a morass of half-truths, promises based on "future generations," offered by those with no intention of letting average Joes and Janes anywhere near the "JTHG." Robert E. Lee would have seen these change agents for what they were/are and dispatched them with alacrity. "Everyone should do all in his power to collect and disseminate the truth, in hope that truth may find a place in history and descend to posterity. History is not the relating of campaigns and battles, and generals or other individuals, but that which shows principles. The principles for which the Soth contended were government by the people; that is, government by the consent of the governed, government limited and local, free of consolidated power. Those principles justified the Souths struggle. - Robert E. Lee.)

June 13, 2006

Opinion by Cate Magennis Wyatt, President, Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership (864 words)

camwyatt@aol.com 540-882-3018 or 540-882-4929 or 703-244-3347 http://www.waterfordva.org (The Waterford Foundation, P.O. Box 54, 40138 Main Street, Waterford, Virginia 20197)

Fauquier Times-Democrat

39 Culpeper Street

Warrenton, Virginia 20186

540-347-4222

Fax: 540-349-8676

http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab2.asp?brd=2553

To submit a Letter to the Editor: ftdeditor@timespapers.com

Last week, this newspaper published an article (by Cheryl K. Chumley, Fauquier Times-Democrat, June 6, 2006) about legislation before Congress to designate the Journey Through Hallowed Ground a National Heritage Area (NHA), which falsely suggested that NHA status would infringe upon personal property rights. We were disappointed that the article improperly gave credence to unfounded fears, and suggested the existence of a degree of public opposition to the legislation, which is simply not present.

Therefore, in this important discussion about our region's past and its future, we feel people will be very pleased to know what The Journey Through Hallowed Ground is, and what it is not.

While we understand and respect that a few property rights activists are against the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area Act, as introduced by Rep. Frank Wolf (House Resolution 5195) and Sen. George Allen (Senate Resolution 2645) on April 25, we write on behalf of over 58 registered, elected organizations, each of whom has chosen to consider the facts, deliberate in open forums, and then chosen to support the effort to obtain National Heritage Area designation.

In this community alone, the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors, the Warrenton Town Council and The Partnership for Warrenton Foundation have all passed resolutions of support. They join the Culpeper, Prince William, Fluvanna, Albemarle Boards of Supervisors, the Adams County Board of Commissioners, and the Town Councils of Leesburg, Orange, Middleburg, Purcellville, Hillsboro, Hamilton, Brunswick, Thurmont, Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry, to name a few -- each of whom have reviewed all facts and determined that the benefits of supporting our existing businesses and efforts to maintain the cultural fabric of our communities are worthy of working collaboratively.

I should add, this is the short list of over 150 partners, which readers can review on our Web site http://www.hallowedground.org

Let's begin with what the Journey is. The Journey is Where America Happened: a 175-mile corridor, running from Gettysburg to Monticello, which includes the largest collection of Civil War sites and battlefields in the country, eight presidential homes, 45 historic districts, 14 National Historic Landmarks, the Jeffersonian District World Heritage Site, which includes Monticello and the University of Virginia, dozens of nationally recognized Main Street communities, 13 National Park units and significant African-American, Native American and Revolutionary War history.

A National Heritage Area designation would simply recognize this region for its role in telling the American story.

What the Journey Through Hallowed Ground is not is an effort to curtail citizens' rights on the use of private and public property. To suggest otherwise is simply wrong. A JTHG National Heritage Area will not infringe upon local communities ability to make decisions about land use, nor does it impose restrictions or requirements on growth or development.

The National Heritage Area program has been in existence for more than two decades. If this was a program that indeed had "unintended consequences" of infringing on property rights, as is suggested in last weeks article, then surely, opponents could show us examples. But they do not.

Instead, an in-depth analysis of National Heritage Areas by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) produced in March 2004 concluded, Despite concerns about private property rights, officials at the 24 heritage areas, Park Service Headquarters and regional staff, and representatives of six national property rights groups that we contacted, were unable to provide us with any examples of a heritage area directly affecting positively or negatively private property values or use. Excerpts from this report (GAO-04-593-T), produced by the Government Accounting Office, are available on our Web site.

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership is an independent public-private organization with an 11-member board of trustees who represent a cross section of respected community leaders, business people and other accomplished professionals. We are proud to note that individuals such as Kat Imhoff, our chairman and vice president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Alice Estrada, executive director of Main Street Gettysburg, Cheryl Kilday, president, Loudoun Convention and Visitors Association, Nick Arundel, publisher of this newspaper, and Chris Miller, president of the Piedmont Environmental Council, as well as all other trustees, have elected to serve on our board.

Despite the diverse backgrounds of our board members, they each share one common characteristic: dedication to raising awareness of this historic corridor, to creating economic opportunity for communities within the region, and to implementing an education initiative that will engage children, teachers and families to enjoy and appreciate this living history textbook we call our home. Indeed, it is the very diversity of their viewpoints that enables the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership to advance a fresh, 21st century approach to celebrating our collective heritage.

A JTHG National Heritage Area is a win-win for local communities and for all Americans. We live and work in the most historic region in the United States and we should be recognized for this blessing. There are no tradeoffs in this legislation. It celebrates our historic resources, supports our current businesses and protects personal property rights.

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership is open to all. Visit our Web site, http://www.hallowedground.org, to learn more about us. Call us and ask questions. Visit our offices. We are sure you will like what you see.

http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab2.cfm?newsid=16785192&BRD=2553&PAG=461&dept_id=506071&rfi=6

Additional reading (titles in brown are factual and thoroughly researched; titles in red are otherwise):

Definitions:

Viewshed A physiographic area composed of land, water, biotic, and cultural elements which may be viewed and mapped from one or more viewpoints and which has inherent scenic qualities and/or aesthetic values as determined by those who view it. (Department of the Interior's National Park Service) Long-Term Monitoring Plan National Capital Region Network, September 30, 2005. Submitted by: Inventory and Monitoring Program, National Capital Region Network, Center for Urban Ecology, 4598 MacArthur Boulevard NW, Washington, D.C. 20007.

http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/monitor/plans/NCRN_MonitoringPlan.pdf (Pages G-1 through G-8 - Glossary or pages 150 through 156 of 156 pages) 2. [The] total visible area from a single observers position or the total visible area from multiple observer positions. Viewsheds are accumulated seen areas from highways, trails, campgrounds, towns, cities, or other view locations. Examples are corridors, feature or basin viewsheds. Appendix H (Biological Assessment and Evaluation for Revised Land and Resource Management Plans and Associated Oil and Gas Leasing Decisions) http://www.fs.fed.us/ngp/final/pdf_feis/Appendix_H.pdf 3. Subunits of the landscape where the cene is contained by topography similar to a watershed. An enclosed area of landscape [that] can be viewed as a single entity. The total area visible from a point (or series of points along a linear transportation facility), and conversely the area, which views the facility. 4. The landscape that can be directly seen from a viewpoint or along a transportation corridor. (Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management)

Viewsheds Viewsheds are described to indicate the cumulative visibility from the perspective of multiple viewer positions along the alternative corridors. Viewer position, viewshed type, and view distance are included. (Department of the Interior's National Park Service) http://www.nps.gov/dena/home/planning/ea/spruceea/saea3.html

Journey Through Hallowed Ground: A National Park Service scheme, run by a socially-conscious aristocracy, designed to radically transform a million acres of Virginias heartland and to impose the appropriate quality of life on people of the Piedmont.

(Note: There is no way to overstate the importance of this 85-page gem of truth. It is highly recommended that all readers of the above "opinion" also invest the time in reading this copiously researched paper. Its truth dismantles the above "opinion's" fiction.)

March 2006

By L. M. Schwartz, Chairman, The Virginia Land Rights Coalition http://www.VLRC.org

http://www.libertymatters.org/newsservice/2006/faxback/3011_hallowed.pdf (85 pages; 2.50 MB)

Frederick Regional Action Network: Journey Through Hallowed Ground News

http://www.frederickaction.org/news/current/journey.html

Phillips Farm Sold to Waterford Foundation

http://www.waterfordva-wca.org/general_articles/03-phillips-farm-sale.htm

Saving Waterford's 'Viewshed'

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1397880 and http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1397880 (NPR - National Public Radio)

Possible Reprieve for Historic Virginia Farm: The Trust for Public Land (TPL)

http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=12383&folder_id=632

Bacon's Rebellion: Saving Hallowed Ground