SPECIAL FEATURE
Hallowed
Ground
Photo provided by Gettysburg National Military Park
Since 1863,
nature and human development have changed the appearance of the landscape and historic
battlefields at Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP). Now, as the 150th anniversary of
that historic battle draws near, Gettysburg NMP staff members share their insights into the ongoing efforts to preserve the
topographic, landscape and cultural features that were significant to the outcome of the battle.
T
he battlefield is now a vast national park,and the landscape
is a mosaic of woodlands and woodlots,agricultural fields,
pasturelands and intermittent streams.And although most
of the landscape is natural, it still needs maintenance.
For example, fields that have not been farmed during the past 65-plus
years have become forests.While some vegetation features (thickets,woodlots and woodlands) were removed by man over the years, others were
overgrown by nature, becoming dense and containing many non-native
species. In addition, some historic fields, pastures and other open areas
are covered by non-historic vegetation.
In 1999, the Gettysburg NMP General Management
Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (GMP/EIS) was approved, outlining goals for rehabilitating the 1863 cultural and natural features that
impacted the battle.
"Battlefield Rehabilitation is a multi-year project to return major battle action areas on the Gettysburg battlefield to their appearance at the
16 Arbor Age / May/June 2013
time of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, and to help the public better
understand the soldier's experiences on the battlefield," said Katie Lawhon,
management assistant, Gettysburg NMP."The project includes removal
of non-historic trees, but also the planting of trees, maintaining historic
woodlots, planting historic orchards, building fences, and more."
Obtaining historical accuracy
The initial challenge was to understand the historic landscapes of the
1863 battle, and how those landscapes had changed throughout the years.
According to Lawhon,historians developed a history of the park landscapes and a set of historical base maps that documented the park's
landscape and built features.Those maps were based upon extensive
research, including park archival materials, library records, historic photographs and sketches, maps, and — more recently — aerial photographs.
The most important mapping resources were Department of War and
Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association maps prepared in 1863,
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