Description
Guidance, support and grants for battlefield preservation, planning, interpretation and education.

The ABPP supports partnership projects that:

• Identify and document battlefields and associated historic sites.
• Assess the condition of battlefields and potential threats to their continued survival.
• Develop battlefield preservation plans.
• Provide for public education and interpretation of battlefields and associated historic sites.
• Incorporate battlefield preservation into local, county, regional, and state planning.
• Promote battlefields and associated historic sites as heritage tourism attractions and local and regional economic development opportunities.
• Improve the technical or management capabilities of local, regional, state, and national organizations and governments that help protect battlefields.

Since 1990, the ABPP and its partners have helped protect and enhance more than 60 battlefields by co-sponsoring more than 130 projects in 16 states and the District of Columbia. Individual project funding has ranged from $1,000 to more than $115,000; the average amount is $22,000. Most partners contribute matching funds or in-kind services to these projects.

Beginning in 1994, the ABPP helped the Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation, Inc. develop a tourism route linking Civil War battle sites between Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Staunton, Virginia. The project's goal is to increase public awareness of battlefields associated with the 1861 West Virginia Campaign.

How to Use This Tool
The ABPP works with individuals, organizations, and local and state governments to find innovative ways of preserving the nation's battlefields. Planning and stewardship are two key objectives. The ABPP encourages public and private partners to identify and evaluate battlefields as early as possible so that information about them can be incorporated into land-use, economic development, and tourism plans. This helps avert costly crises that can divide communities and lead to the destruction of important historic sites

The ABPP also fosters local stewardship of historic battlefields by working with landowners, developers, battlefield friends groups, government officials, and others to create opportunities for preservation. The program encourages its partners to promote battlefields and associated historic sites as valuable community assets. When carefully managed, these places can become recreational open space, outdoor classrooms, and tourism and revenue generators.

Limitations
The ABPP does not fund land acquisition or capital improvement projects. At present, the ABPP is focusing on strategies to preserve priority Civil War battlefields identified by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission. They ABPP also selectively funds projects that protect sites associated with the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, and other armed conflicts.

Contacts
The American Battlefield Protection Program
Heritage Preservation Services
National Park Service
PO Box 37127, Suite 250
Washington, DC 20013-7127
202/343-3449, FAX 343-1836
Website: www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/

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