Last Friday the Vermont State Legislature approved a resolution condemning the proposed Walmart at the Wilderness Battlefield and urging the Orange County Board of Supervisors to preserve the gateway to the National Park. The resolution passed with little opposition in either the Senate or the House. In the House several members actually shared stories of their ancestors who fought in the Civil War and shed their blood at the Wilderness in moving testimony that helped assure the resolution’s passage.
Vermont injecting itself into the Walmart debate in Orange County may seem unusual, but considering that the First Vermont Brigade suffered over 1,200 casualties during the fighting at the Wilderness it is completely understandable why the state would approve such a resolution. In fact, Vermont played a critical role in preserving more than 500 acres of the Wilderness Battlefield already and has placed a granite monument on the Virginia battlefield where so many Vermont soldiers gave their lives.
Vermont’s action further underscores the argument that the Wilderness Battlefield is a site of national importance and should be treated with the respect such an important historical location deserves. Congress set aside the battlefield as part of the National Park for all Americans to visit and enjoy, and Orange County has a duty as stewards of the battlefield to ensure its protection for generations to come.
Vermont recognizes that building a massive Walmart so close to the National Park would be a disaster for the Wilderness, and hopefully others will continue to come forward and express their opposition to a plan that would forever alter the visitor’s experience to the Wilderness Battlefield.
You can read the article and the resolution in Saturday’s Free Lance-Star.
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