What We Do: Accomplishments
Protecting America’s Civil War and Civil Rights History at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
In 2000, a new 180-unit housing subdivision was proposed on the historic Murphy Farm, threatening its rich Civil War and civil rights history. NPCA became a leader in the successful campaign to protect the Murphy Farm by building a diverse coalition with local rafting companies and tourism interests, local black history associations, national Civil War and African American heritage groups, and local and national park preservationists. In December 2002, the Murphy Farm's 99 acres became part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.
NPCA and community leaders continued to work together to advocate for legislation to expand the park from about 2,200 to 3,500 acres, and the bill was signed into law in September 2004. The West Virginia Congressional delegation secured a series of federal grants totaling $5.9 million to enable the park to buy most of the unprotected lands within its expanded acreage ceiling.
Only an hour’s drive from the White House, a visitor now can walk on the historic Murphy Farm and experience a mid-19th century landscape essentially unchanged since Confederate soldiers executed winning tactics across its rolling topography, and since early civil rights leaders made a barefooted pilgrimage to John Brown's Fort, then located there. One can stroll through farm fields along Union and Confederate lines at Bolivar Heights and School House Ridge and imagine the smoke and chaos of battle.
In 2007 when developers sought commercial re-zoning of more than 400 acres virtually surrounded by the park, NPCA again helped lead a successful campaign to win a series of key votes that blocked this effort. This and several other parcels key to protecting and interpreting Harpers Ferry's remarkable history remain at risk from future development, and NPCA and community leaders are moving forward with strategies to protect them.
Healthy Air for Parks, People, and the Chesapeake Bay
Maryland
With almost every national park in Maryland located in an area with EPA-designated unhealthy air, improving air quality is a top priority for us. NPCA led a diverse coalition in successful advocacy for the Healthy Air Act in Maryland, which in 2006 established the most effective state legislation in the country to reduce pollution – including carbon dioxide -- from outdated coal-fired power plants. The act also helps significantly to clean up the Chesapeake Bay by reducing atmospheric nitrogen deposition into the watershed and helps people be healthier by reducing ground-level ozone, the major component of smog.
Virginia
NPCA used federal Clean Air Act provisions that protect national parks, and worked with resource-based businesses such as wineries and small inns, to secure significant improvements in the final permit for the Dominion Virginia Wise County coal-fired power plant in 2008 and in the final permit for the CPV-Warren gas-fired power plant in 2004. For several years, NPCA has helped secure annual federal funding for a 25-year study of air quality impacts at Shenandoah National Park that measures changes in condition of resources such as park streams and soil since enactment of the 1990 Clean Air Act.
Preserving treasured landscapes in Pennsylvania
Some of the most important sites in Revolutionary War and Civil War history have been threatened by development projects that would mar their scenic beauty and impede the ability of park staff and visitors to interpret their amazing history. In 2005 NPCA led a successful campaign to stop a large slots parlor casino proposed within cannon range of Gettysburg National Military Park by a well-connected developer. From 2001 - 2005 NPCA led successful campaigns at Valley Forge to stop 200 acres of parkland from being taken for a veterans’ cemetery, and to stop a Toll Brothers luxury subdivision from being built on land used by the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The veterans' cemetery is being built in Bucks County, and the land targeted by Toll inside Valley Forge was instead sold to the National Park Service after Senator Alan Specter successfully sought federal grants from Congress for its protection.
Restoring Frederick Douglass’ home in Washington DC
Born into slavery in Maryland, Frederick Douglass bought Cedar Hill, his hilltop home in Washington DC, in 1877 after campaigning tirelessly against slavery, organizing for the Union Army, and earning a reputation as one of the nation’s greatest orators. He continued to serve the country in several diplomatic positions. His life is interpreted in the house for visitors by park rangers, but due to lack of funding the house itself was falling into disrepair. NPCA’s advocacy for increased funding for major projects at Frederick Douglass National Historic Site resulted in Congress approving almost $1 million for updating heating and air conditioning systems, and other infrastructure upgrades and repairs. Mr. Douglass’s home reopened to visitors in 2008 after the updates were completed.
