[12/19/02]President Bush has signed legislation that could result in $50 million more being allocated to buy land on which Civil War battles were fought.

If the money requested by the act is appropriated by Congress, it would provide $10 million annually in matching federal grants for fiscal years 2004 through 2008. The grants would be available to state or local governments or nonprofit organizations that apply to the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Preservation Program. As a condition, applicants would have to pledge to contribute the same amount of money they request.

The act, called the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2002, lists 384 battle sites designated as nationally significant. Of those sites, 16 are in Mississippi, and about half of them are in Warren or neighboring counties. Specific sites are in Vicksburg, Port Gibson, Chickasaw Bayou, Raymond, Champion Hill, Big Black River Bridge, Grand Gulf and Snyder’s Bluff.

The sites that made the list were chosen from the estimated total of 10,500 around the country where Civil War conflicts occurred from 1860 to 1865. The Vicksburg National Military Park was created by Congress in 1899 as the scene of a decisive struggle. The area sites mark Union approaches to what was a Confederate stronghold.

American Battlefield Protection Program Chief Paul Hawke said the federal government had provided nearly $11 million for purchases of such sites in jeopardy of being lost in the past five years.

Mississippi Department of Archives and History Civil War sites historian Jim Woodrick said the act signed Tuesday was better than previous federal efforts since it required half the contribution from entities requesting federal money.

Still, he said, the most likely matching contributor would be the state government, which would likely sell bonds to borrow money for its share. He said that, under current economic conditions, he did not think that was likely to happen any time soon.

“It’s better, but in today’s financial climate I don’t hear much hope of getting any bond money out of the Legislature for another” several years, Woodrick said. “It’s really the intent of the legislation to encourage local communities to begin a battlefield preservation program.”

The grant money would allow for either outright purchases of land, or purchases of conservation easements, which are essentially development rights. Though such easements have not been used extensively in the state, Woodrick predicted their use could increase here. One reason he cited is their cost, which is generally about half that of the land itself.

“I think it will be used more, especially as money gets tighter,” Woodrick said. “Particularly in Mississippi, where there’s so much land that’s undeveloped.

“A lot of times you can still do timber (harvesting) and farming on the land,” he said. “It doesn’t take it off the tax rolls it keeps the land doing something, and it’s a good way to spread the money around.”