GDG- More Tree Cutting

[Rea Andrew Redd]

Battlefield tree axing to resume at Gettysburg  Source: Gettysburg 
Times (7-14-06)
  Another round of rehabilitative tree cuts are scheduled to commence 
next week at Gettysburg National Military Park — the biggest parcel to 
be axed, Park Service officials say, comprises about 50 acres adjacent 
to West Confederate Avenue. The rehabilitation project, which officially 
began during the summer of 2000, relates to GNMP’s ongoing initiative 
of reshaping prominent battlefield portions to their 1863 Civil War 
appearances.   In the 143 years since the Battle of Gettysburg, the 
landscape, according to documented studies, has changed drastically, mutated 
by the growth of new trees and changes in field sizes, as well as the 
gradual removal of fences, orchards and farm lanes.

Park Service spokeswoman Katie Lawhon says GNMP is bringing back the 
battle’s significant missing features.

“We don’t like using the word restoration,” explained Lawhon, Thursday 
morning. “We’re rehabilitating. So much has been lost over the years.”

Next week, crews will initiate a cut targeting a 50-acre parcel along 
West Confederate Avenue, stretching to the McMillan House. Tree thinning 
will extend to the area of the Gettysburg armory, and to the borough’s 
recreation park.

Over the past several years, the park has been cutting down similar 
non-historic woodlots, thinning ‘historic’ parcels, planting new orchards, 
replacing fences, replanting thickets, and restoring farm lands into 
hiking and horse trails.

The goal?

To restore the park’s terrain, fence lines and battlefield views as 
seen by battle participants to increase understanding of Civil War 
skirmishes as they unfolded in early July, 1863.

“We’re not just doing this exercise because we feel like we have 
nothing to do,” said Kathy Harrison, senior historian at GNMP. “Battlefield 
views are significant because of their strategical and tactical 
importance. But you lose the whole concept because of the trees in the way.”

As of July 12, GNMP had completed 147-acres worth of cuts involving 
‘non-historic’ woodlots. Non-historic trees, Park Service





"The past is not dead.  It is not even past."   William Faulkner****   Rea Andrew Redd, Associate Professor****  Director of Library Systems, History Instructor****  Eberly Library, Waynesburg College, Waynesburg, PA 15370****  724.852.3254 (desk); 724.627.4188 (fax)****   or  			
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