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Among the sites on this year's list is:
Harpers Ferry, W.Va.
In August 2006, a consortium of Jefferson County, W. Va. developers crossed onto National Park Service (NPS) property and dug two 1,900-foot-long trenches for water and sewer pipes. They did so without receiving a permit from NPS and, despite repeated requests to cease and desist, left nearly two acres of taxpayer-owned hallowed ground seriously compromised. Now, thanks to this illegal construction, the same developers are proposing a massive development along the ridgeline.

Gettysburg, Pa.,
According to The Gettysburg Times, the county estimates that 1,100 homes are either under construction or slated to begin shortly. Another 14,000 units have been proposed, and 6,500 more are foreseeable in the near future.

Spring Hill, Tenn.
Today, expansion of the Nashville and Franklin suburbs is eating away at large portions of the Spring Hill Battlefield. In January 2007, construction began on a massive commercial development – a 62-acre, 465,000-square-foot shopping center, which will contain a SuperTarget, Kohl's and 31 other retail units.

Cedar Creek, Va.
a rezoning application could allow the O-N Minerals Company to expand its current mining operations with five additional quarries across an area where at least 60 percent of the land is core battlefield.

Fort Morgan, Ala.
the once formidable Fort Morgan has fallen into significant disrepair. In 2006 the Alabama Historical Commission adopted a new plan to gradually increase staff and repair storm damage to the property. But full implementation of the management plan will require substantial state funding.

Iuka, Miss.
modern roadways penetrate the core battlefield and scene of the most significant fighting at Iuka. A motel was built on the spot where Lt. Cyrus Sears' 11th Ohio Battery unlimbered and served its guns in the heart of the battlefield; the building's foundation destroyed the hillside and valuable artifacts were lost.

Marietta, Ga.
huge sections of trenches and fortifications remain unprotected, and, in some instances, earthworks have been intentionally bulldozed to avoid complications that could scare away potential developers.

New Orleans Forts, La.
In August 2005, all three were devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Eighteen months later, though the initial cleanup has been completed, important questions remain about the future of the forts that once defended New Orleans.

Northern Piedmont, Md., Pa. and Va.
energy giants Dominion Virginia Power and Allegheny Power have proposed 500-kilovolt power lines that would devastate environmental, cultural and historical resources throughout the region. The most controversial route, proposed in Northern Virginia, would affect some 48,000 acres of land protected under preservation easements, including seven Civil War battlefields.

Petersburg, Va.
The 2006 federal Base Realignment and Closure commission report call for a drastic increase in the size of Fort Lee, a U.S. Army installation located adjacent to the Petersburg National Battlefield. Estimates are that the on-base population will increase by 119 percent and that approximately $1 billion will be spent on building upgrades and new construction. Such incredible growth in such a short time will threaten the Park's historic buildings, landscape and archeological resources.

It's heartbreaking to realize that so much of the historic land of Northern Virginia is already under concrete and that there is such a greed-crazed attitude toward the remaining acres. These are among the most beautiful parts of America, as precious in their way as Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, or Big Sur, and just as irreplaceable. These are the places where America was forged, for this country was not just established in Philadelphia but also on the battlefields of the War Between the States. Too much has already been lost, and it's no accident that the National Trust for Historic Preservation identifies the Crooked Run Valley (the area along VA Rt 17 from Delaplane to Ashby's Gap through the Blue Ridge) as among the most endangered in America.

Major Peter Vredenburg, Freehold, New Jersey. On September 19, 1864, under Major Vredenburgh's command, the 14th Regiment of the New Jersey Volunteers, participated in the Battle of Opequan, near Winchester, Virginia, where he was fatally wounded.

About a year ago, I was in Winchester and took a trip to Opequan, about 4.5 miles from my hotel in Winchester. It is literally a fork in the road. I was most disappointed that there was no reference to the battle that took my Grandfather's Grand Uncle's life.

The other thing, which has disturbed me for years 'til now, is that my grandfather's younger sister, in her later years, actually sold the beautiful penned condolences letter to Peter's mother from Abraham Lincoln. It was beautifully framed. She never consulted other members of the family to see if anyone would match the offered price for the letter.

Long story. Thanks for reading.