WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced Wednesday $7.2 million in grants dedicated to preserving Civil War battlefields, including one site in Jefferson County.
Zinke made the announcement from Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland, where he noted President Donald Trump’s first-quarter salary of $78,333 would go toward restoration projects at that location.
The $7.2 million would preserve nearly 1,200 acres in nine states threatened with “damage or destruction by urban and suburban development.”
“These lands were once the stages of our nation’s most pivotal conflicts,” Zinke said. “Working with the state and local communities, we must preserve these battlefields for future generations of Americans to remember and understand the impact of sacrifices of those who fought on these hallowed grounds. This grant program, along with President Trump’s donation will help ensure just that.”
The Jefferson County Historical Landmarks Commission will receive $44,525.95 for more than 14 acres at the Shepherdstown Battlefield. The 1862 Battle of Shepherdstown marked the end of the Confederate Army’s Maryland Campaign to invade the United States.
The grants use money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which uses revenue from federal oil and gases leases. The funds will be administered by the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program.