From the American Battlefield Trust….
After the Battle of the Wilderness, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant maneuvered his Army of the Potomac further south, looking to put his troops in an advantageous position between Robert E. Lee’s force and the Confederate capitol at Richmond. He knew he was playing the long game and in the midst of bloody fighting at Spotsylvania Court House, he wrote back to Washington, “I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.”
In fighting the proposed mega development at Wilderness Crossing, I have developed newfound appreciation for the determination in those words, the knowledge that the road will be long and hard but still necessary.
It’s been 23 months since the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted on a flawed rezoning proposal that stands to completely overwhelm the gateway to this important battlefield and national park unit with data centers, distribution warehouses, industrial development and thousands of residential units.
It’s been 22 months, since the American Battlefield Trust, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, Friend of Wilderness Battlefield and several private landowners filed a lawsuit in the aftermath.
And just last Friday we had a significant milestone in the case with a hearing on the county’s motion to see it dismissed, as well as an effort to block the admission of “friend of the court” briefs filed by other conservation organizations.
The hearing went all afternoon and into the evening – the only member of the Board of Supervisors to attend in person exited before the judge finally adjourned. And although he did determine that those important briefs from our allies would become part of the case’s record, he did not issue a decision on whether the case would move forward to trial.
I have to respect this approach. In addition to the hours of arguments he heard live, there are literally thousands of pages of documentation to digest in order to have a fully formed opinion. Lawyers and historians both believe in thorough documentation, after all! So as nice as it might have been to share a more decisive update with you, I appreciate it’s important to take a thoughtful and considerate approach to a complex topic.
The judge indicated he would take at least a month to issue his written opinion. If he rules in our favor, the case will proceed to trial; if he doesn’t as with the Prince William Digital Gateway, we will look at our options for appeal.
And so we wait, knowing that we will fight it out on this line if it takes all summer, all year or even longer. The destruction of hallowed ground through ill-sited proposals and haphazard processes is too important an issue for us to stand down.
Make a gift to support our advocacy fund
As these critical legal cases drag on, I ask you to support the Trust’s advocacy work to ensure that we continue to purchase battlefield land without any need to divert a penny contributed toward that primary mission. We fight these battles now because, if we don’t, the impact of these data centers and distribution warehouses and industrial-scale solar arrays will just continue to spread to more and more historic areas.
‘Til the battle is won,
David N. Duncan
President
American Battlefield Trust