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Virtual meeting on Antietam National Battlefield scheduled for Thursday

By Toni Milbourne - For the Chronicle | Oct 15, 2021

The National Park Service is seeking public input on a Landscape Management Plan for Antietam National Battlefield. Toni Milbourne

SHARPSBURG, Md. — The National Park Service has scheduled a virtual meeting for Thursday to secure public comment on a Landscape Management Plan and Environmental Assessment for Antietam National Battlefield.

The battlefield, just a few miles away from Shepherdstown, is a favorite of local Civil War buffs, as well as those enjoying an outing in general. The battlefield is the site of a battle that occurred Sept. 17, 1862 and had been called the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

Today’s national park features the battlefield site, a visitor center, a national military cemetery and a field hospital museum. It is also the location of the historic and scenic Burnside Bridge.

The goal of the National Park Service, according to a recent press release, is to develop a plan that will provide a framework for the treatment of the battlefield landscape and describe specific guidelines and tasks to maintain and enhance the park’s historic character.

The goal of the plan, according to National Park officials, is to develop comprehensive, sustainable land use strategies that will preserve significant landscape elements and integrate natural and cultural resource values.

Things to be considered include, but are not limited to, how to sustainably manage land uses, including agriculture, native grasslands and forests; how to rehabilitate historic viewpoints; how to protect witness trees that were standing at the time of the battle; how to advance watershed stewardship goals; how to increase resiliency to climate change impacts; and, how to improve opportunities for park visitors to learn about the battle’s events and significance.

In addition to attending the public meeting, members of the public may also submit written comments by mail to: Superintendent, Attn: Landscape Management Plan, Antietam National Battlefield, P.O. Box 158, Sharpsburg, MD 21782. Comments may also be submitted online from Thursday through Nov. 21. through the NPS PEPC website at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/antilandscape. The National Park Service believes that public input in the deliberations is of primary importance.

The virtual meeting will be held from 6-8 p.m. Access to the meeting can be found on the park’s website or by dialing in to 877-286-5733, with conference identification number 902 759 352#.