[Old Phone Man]

A picture is worth a thousand words, and I possess about five hundred pictures... Still counting, too.

The present Park administration is bilking the taxpayers of millions of dollars by NOT maintaining the REAL neccessities of the Park... 99% of the deer have been killed off so the Park can plant seedlings for countless orchards that were here at the time of the battle... Fence lines are changed countlessly to appease the current superintendent.

If you want to really know any battlefield you have to walk its land continually, reference your own maps and read constantly.. When you do this you learn to appreciate and respect nature...

You don't have to depend on some politically correct Nazi superintendant raping the land to appease those in kind and his (0r her) legacy.

Anyway, in ten minutes I'll be out there with my camera, continuing to record the rape of Gettysburg.

[Rodney King]

If you want to really know any battlefield you have to walk its land continually, reference your own maps and read constantly.. When you do this you learn to appreciate and respect nature... You don't have to depend on some politically correct Nazi superintendant raping the land to appease those in kind and his (0r her) legacy.

So really, this has nothing to do with the battlefield per se, but simply that you know every inch of this particular piece of land, have grown to love it, and don't like other people f'ing with it?

[flying Elvis]

The present Park administration is bilking the taxpayers of millions of dollars

Can you provide proof of this claim? Much of the tree cutting money is donated by a private philanthropical group dedicated to battlefield preservation and study of the Civil War. If other aspects of the park are neglected it is because of budgetary constraints. Cutting trees in most cases, comes from the private sector.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

A picture is worth a thousand words, and I possess about five hundred pictures... Still counting, too.

Probably the same 500+ images that I have within my 300+ book strong Civil War library at home.

The present Park administration is bilking the taxpayers of millions of dollars by NOT maintaining the REAL neccessities of the Park...

I have no idea what you are talking about here. The park's administration goes out of its way to make it accessible to everyone, complete with tour presentations and appropriate facilities for all tourists and visitors.

99% of the deer have been killed off so the Park can plant seedlings for countless orchards that were here at the time of the battle...

A special group of professional hunters from the Department of Agriculture were in fact hired a couple of years ago to do this at night with silenced rifles and starlight scopes. The reason for it was that the park was grossly overpopulated with thousands of white-tailed deer, which most sportsmen know do not migrate and tend to stay within a square-mile or so of their birthplaces for their entire lives. Consequently, they were in danger of starving to death, and moreover, their sheer numbers had caused them to become a serious traffic hazard on Emmitsburg Road. Orchards and seedlings had nothing to do with it. Believe me there are no shortage of deer in the area, and on any given morning, I can look out in my far back yard and see a number of them grazing in the early morning light.

Fence lines are changed countlessly to appease the current superintendent.

No, they are routinely rearranged based upon current research of the original lines from period maps and photographs.

If you want to really know any battlefield you have to walk its land continually, reference your own maps and read constantly.. When you do this you learn to appreciate and respect nature...

Yep, I read constantly, enough in fact that I earned a Master's Degree in American History. And yes, I do appreciate and respect nature, but that is not purview of the military park.

You don't have to depend on some politically correct Nazi superintendant raping the land to appease those in kind and his (0r her) legacy. How can you accuse the current superintendent of being both politically correct and a Nazi (contradition in terms?) when you don't even know who is he. I do know him, and he is a fine man and a thorough professional who is devoted to preserving the battlefield and its history. I would be very careful before hurling insults at him as you have done, sir, without being better informed.

[FreedomCalls]

If you want a natural park, not a military memorial, go somewhere else. There are plenty of natural parks to choose from -- but there is only one Gettysburg which should be as it was.