Viewpoint
IRRIGAT ON
John Kmitta
Preserving History
I
n The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln said, "We can not dedicate, we can not
consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."
In his most famous speech, Lincoln stressed the importance of that historic
event, and the importance of preserving and remembering what happened in Gettysburg, Pa. in July of 1863.
With the cover story for this issue we are taking a bit of a departure from our typical focus on residential and commercial landscape and irrigation projects to examine
the amazing landscape restoration, tree care and grounds maintenance efforts that have
been — and continue to be — accomplished by the staff at Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP).
To help the public better understand the soldiers' experiences on the battlefield, the
rehabilitation efforts have included removing non-historic trees, planting trees, maintaining historic woodlots, building fences, re-establishing grasslands, restoring wetlands,
and improving habitat.
As 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the battle, this is the perfect time to draw
attention to the battlefield rehabilitation work that has taken place at Gettysburg.
Researching and writing the cover feature is an effort that has been extremely rewarding. It is not often that I get the chance to explore a topic with such historical significance. In addition, I was amazed at the in-depth landscape restoration work that has
been performed throughout the past 13-plus years, and the dedication of the National
Park Service to preserve such an historic landscape.
The maintenance crews at Gettysburg NMP have fought a battle against time and
nature in order to restore this historic landscape, and I'm glad we are able to recognize
their efforts in our family of publications.
I hope that you find the rehabilitation work as intriguing as I do, and I hope that
the feature story fuels your interest in this important piece of American history.
LI
Photo by Eric Schroder
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6 Landscape and Irrigation May/June 2013
www.landscapeirrigation.com
