Thankfully, yesterday's Culpeper Airfest caused minimal damage to the St. James Plateau property.
I became aware of the potential for parking on the hallowed land some months ago and was in correspondence with a number of individuals representing the parties involved. I had felt that the Civil War Trust & and Virginia Department of Historical Resources would deny the request to park on this land.
They did not.
From the CWT web site:
Our Mission: The Civil War Trust is America's largest non-profit organization (501-C3) devoted to the preservation of our nation's endangered Civil War battlefields.
From the VDHR website:
Our mission is to foster, encourage, and support the stewardship of
Virginia's significant historic architectural, archaeological, and cultural resources.
I ask the VDHR if they conducted an archaeological study of the ground to be parked on to a similar detailed level as they did on the Brandy Station battlefield in 2008 prior to a cavalry reenactment? The answer is of course no.
How can you preserve a battlefield by allowing vehicles to park on it?
