For Release June 2, 2005 @ Noon
Reach our press contact

Effort Gains Momentum with New Congressional Support, National Trust for Historic Preservation 11 Most Endangered Status, and Private Funding

Results of Voter Opinion Poll Released

Washington, D.C.( June 2, 2005) - The Journey Through Hallowed Ground (JTHG), a tri-state public/private-sector collaborative effort founded to preserve and protect the historic sites and natural resources along the 175-mile-long corridor following Route 15 starting in Gettysburg, Pa., passing through Frederick, Md., and ending at Monticello, outside Charlottesville, Va., today announced its designation by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of its 11 most endangered historic sites in America.  Also announced was the new national awareness campaign "The Journey Through Hallowed Ground: Where American Happened."
 
"There aren't many places that encompass a greater variety of significant historic sites - from Founding Fathers' homes to Civil War battlefields- or that face a more serious range of threats," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust.  "Without comprehensive planning to manage sprawl and encourage appropriate growth, much of the region's heritage could be paved over."
 
At a press conference today the JTHG initiative also announced results of its first baseline research poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research. The results indicate that a vast majority of voters living along the JTHG corridor highly value their natural and historic resources and link them directly to their quality of life (96 percent of those surveyed in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania rated their parks and natural resources as important to their quality of life).  The poll also revealed that a majority (90 percent) identified growth as the single issue that currently affects and will affect their quality of life.   And, as a reminder to local leaders along the JTHG corridor, 70 percent of those polled gave their local politicians negative ratings on how they are managing that growth.   [ A complete copy of the survey results are in the JTHG press kit and available by accessing the website www.hallowedground.org.]
 
"We are tasked with finding new, 21st century solutions that will balance the growth in the region, the need to preserve a precious and important region of our country, and to create economic development programs in conjunction with preservation efforts that will benefit each community along the Journey," said Cate Magennis Wyatt, former secretary of commerce and trade in Virginia who is currently leading The Journey Through Hallowed Ground initiative. "Our polling results underscore our responsibility to the local communities along The JTHG corridor as well as our duty as Americans to bring the best minds together to ensure we balance today's demands for growth with our responsibility to bequeath America's heritage to the generations to come."
 
 The JTHG is a consortium of national historians, business leaders, politicians, preservationists, and concerned citizens who have formed an initiative dedicated to finding solutions that balance economic development and historic preservation in ways that celebrate and protect the unique historical, cultural, scenic and natural legacies that are America's heritage. 
 
 "Today's announcement is a clarion call to all citizens, if they want to preserve our American heritage, each has to pay attention to, and participate in, and volunteer for public service, to ensure the efforts of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground can be brought to fruition.  This tri-state, public-private initiative is an outstanding example of citizens and businesses working together to celebrate our remarkable American heritage and work intelligently to plan for future growth. I endorse it full heartedly," said Sen. John Warner (R-Va).
 
According to JTHG officials, the momentum of political support from both parties is growing at a steady rate.  Over the past six months, JTHG has received resolutions of support from communities along the Journey Through Hallowed Ground corridor in Virginia including: the Leesburg Town Council, the Purcellville Town Council, the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.  These community leaders join the Adams County Board of Supervisors (Pa.) and the Virginia General Assembly who passed similar resolutions in 2003.
 
"The Route 15/20 corridor stretching from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Monticello, Virginia serves as a gateway to some of the most important sites in American history," said Congressman Todd Platts (PA-19). "I'm pleased to support the ongoing efforts to preserve this important American heritage for generations to come."
 
JTHG officials also announced today new funding and a national awareness campaign- "The Journey Through Hallowed Ground: Where America Happened."  In addition to new private-sector funding of over $500,000, JTHG officials also outlined a set of solutions designed to address the preservation challenges in the region, keeping in mind that there are real economic pressures at play, and that any effective solution has to balance the needs of the region with the desire of many to preserve and enhance the history that lies along this heritage corridor.
 
With new funding from Jacqueline Mars, The Prince Foundation, Mark and Ann Kington, The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, the Virginia Murphy Gifting, the Rintel Foundation, and several anonymous private donors, the JTHG initiative has launched its "Where America Happened" campaign and is hoping to achieve the following by 2008:
1. To receive congressional designation as a National Heritage Area.
2. To comply with regulations required by the Department of Transportation to become a National Scenic Byway, thus creating an official link between Gettysburg, Pa., to Monticello, outside Charlottesville, Va.
3. Initiate a "Teach the Teacher" accreditation course with credits to allow teachers throughout the corridor to learn the vast heritage in their "backdoor" classroom.
4. To introduce a heritage tourism initiative, including authenticity guidelines, a web-based itinerary, qualified tour operators and published guide/cooking/pictorial books that will link the thousands of heritage and agricultural sites in the corridor and provide a destination for national and international travelers.
5. To commission a study to explore the creation of a "socially responsible" real estate investment trust (REIT) that will leverage private real estate capital into a fund to purchase land for the purpose of promoting environmental protection, social equity, and heritage/cultural sensitivity.  Most of the land along The JTHG corridor is privately held. In recognition of the laws and rights of property owners, the JTHG is exploring a means to create a JTHG "REIT" - position to provide any willing land owner a market rate purchase price for their land.  This innovative financial vehicle could provide a landowner a viable alternative to selling property for development.
6. For the first time, transform what has been a volunteer effort, into an organization by creating a 501c3 non-profit, The Journey Through Hallowed Ground,  which will employ full-time professionals to oversee the effort and facilitate the collaborative partnership of 120 members (see Press Backgrounder for list of partners.)
 
The Journey Through Hallowed Ground has been recognized by national historians as the region which holds more American history than any other swath of land in the country.  The region boasts six presidential homes, the largest concentration of Civil War Battlefields, Native American and African American historic sites, as well as bucolic countryside, scenic rivers, roads, and landscapes.
 
"This is the ground of our Founding Fathers. These are landscapes that speak volumes-small towns, churches, fields, mountains, creeks and rivers with names such as Bull Run and Rappahannock. They are the real thing, and what shame we will bring on ourselves if we destroy them," said David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize winning writer and historian.
 
Cong. Frank Wolf said, "The historic corridor known as The Journey Through Hallowed Ground holds an amazing amount of our nation's history - over 400 years, from the Native American trading route to the Revolutionary War to the Civil War and beyond.  It should be celebrated, and it is incumbent upon us to hold sacred these historic resources and share them with all of America and the world.  This land has been inspirational to American leaders for hundreds of years and this private-public sector initiative continues a tradition that speaks to the core of what I hold dear - our American values."

And, according to the JTHG opinion polling, Cong. Wolf and his colleagues in the House and Senate are in full agreement with their constituents, given that eight in ten voters that were polled expressed support for the JTHG initiative (81 percent).
 
"The Journey Through Hollowed Ground initiative offers a tremendous opportunity to achieve many worthy goals: preserving the rich diversity of our heritage, helping to stimulate local pride and truly enrich the residents and visitors to our region as well as generating promising new economic opportunities through heritage tourism," said Sen. Paul Sarbanes (MD).
 
###