Preserving Civil War Battlefields

In Southwest Missouri, the fastest growing area of the state, Civil War battle sites are being threatened by wider roads, more housing, and the coming of development to formerly rural lands. A group of activists, the Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association, is working to preserve some of the 1,000 acres of battlefields that remain unprotected and in private hands, according to The Kansas City Star. The group has accepted a donationof land as well as federal grants to develop a preservation plan. The District of Columbia-based Civil War Preservation Trust recently named Newtonia one of the Civil War's most endangered battlefields. According to a1993 federal report, one-third of the 384 most significant Civil War battlefield sites are endangered or already lost to development.