Again... I walk the Gettysburg fields daily.. I've lived here for almost five years and have been coming uo here for ten more. I know much about what happened here... more than the average bear, I might say too.
Cutting down a projected 600 acres of trees is just not my cup of tea... I also believe that this is Hallowed Ground, and if you could dig up some of the veterans who fought here they would say the same thing..
I've documented the rape of Gettysburg daily, and I despise what I see... In fact, I'm sick over it!
I have countless numbers of photos showing 100 year old trees (some older than that) lying in their death throes... Beautiful Red Bud that will never accentuate the beauty of the land again... 150 year old stately Cedar trees that once cast their shadows over millions of visitors including the veterans themselves... Gone!
Joshua Chamberlain in his writings talks often about this Hallowed Ground sanctified by the blood of both North and South... He talks about healing the wounds not only of the men involved, but the very Ground itself.
The present Park supervisors are playing the taxpayer for all thay can get, while basic maintainence of the Park suffers.... I say For Shame!
Theoretical question: If the park naturally became overgrown with poison ivy, you would be against removing it because it is hallowed ground?
"There will be no place here for the gaudy display of rich equipages and show of wealth; no place for lovers to bide tryst; no place for pleasure-seekers or loungers. The hosts that in the future come to the grand Park will come rather with feelings of awe or reverence. Here their better natures will be aroused; here they will become imbued with grand and lofty ideas; with courage and patriotism; with devotion to duty and love of country. "
Source: U.S. House of Representatives. Office Building for Commission, Chickamauga National Park. Report No. 786, 61 Cong., 2 Sess., 1910, p. 1. Further comments by the Secretary of War:
The work of restoring the field to its condition at the time of the battle has progressed rapidly. Seventeen State commissions have been organized to locate the positions of State troops, and the national commission expects that the remaining nine States which had troops engaged in the battle will create commissions during the coming winter. Several State commissions have already visited the park and established the positions of the troops of their respective States. Ohio has appropriated $95,000 for monuments, fifty-six of which will soon be erected; Minnesota has appropriated $15,000 for five monuments, and during the coming session legislatures of other States are expected to take similar action. Seven granite monuments have been erected in memory of the regular troops engaged at Chickamauga, and five observation towers have been erected, offering comprehensive view of the field of conflict.
Source: Report of the Secretary of War, 1893, p. 33.
The only rape of Gettysburg was letting it get overgrown and untended. It should be restored and preserved. It should not have forests where there were open fields just as it should not have baseball diamonds, soccer fields, or condominiums laid out over it.
‘100 year old trees (some older than that) lying in their death throes’
LOL