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Gettysburg Casino. Wilderness Wal-Mart. Some things just don’t go together.

From the National Parks Conservation Association:

 

The land at Gettysburg has been set aside by our nation so we can honor the sacrifices made there and show respect for that devastating and defining battle. This is not the place for the casino, recently proposed on land so close to the park that it would have been within Civil War cannon-shot. A casino so close to this hallowed ground is at odds with the very nature of this place where so many died to preserve our country. Gettysburg National Military Park belongs to all of us and we must protect it from this development.

We are also working against proposed development in Orange, Virginia, on the site of the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness--General Ulysses S. Grant’s first battle of his decisive “war of attrition” against General Robert E. Lee. But officials in Orange have approved the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter on Battle of the Wilderness ground. With your help, and our numerous local allies, we have generated more than 27,000 messages to Wal-Mart urging them to work with us on a solution that does not desecrate this hallowed Civil War battlefield.

Even as we prepare to mark the 150th anniversary of the start of Civil War in 2011, more than 70 of the nation’s most significant battlefields have been lost to development.

Conservation of our most important places doesn’t just happen--it requires engagement and dedication and the hard work of NPCA, empowered by members like you. We’ve been able to stand as guardian to the nation’s battlefields because you have stood with us.

Your generous contribution now will help us fight development pressures like the proposed Gettysburg casino and Wilderness Wal-Mart. With your help, we can coordinate local support, conduct research and advocate for the protection of these parks in venues ranging from local zoning commission meetings to the halls of Congress.

Who we are today as a nation was formed in these places--in Gettysburg, in Orange, Virginia, and other threatened battlefields. In order to tell our story effectively, these places must be saved.

Please click here to donate today to defend these parks and our shared history.

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