Prince William County residents are mad that efforts to preserve the Manassas National Battlefield Park are coming at the expense of trees, they told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Officials at the Civil War battlefield cut down 130 acres of trees in a region of the park named Deep Cut, an action that angered several citizens, including Jonathan Way of the Manassas City Council.
“Please don’t let this tree issue get lost underneath this land issue,” he said.
Park Superintendent Ed Clark, in his presentation on methods to protect the park’s viewsheds, said clear vistas are essential to visitors’ understanding and appreciation of the historical site.
“Like many National Park Service areas, views — what you can see — are very important, in Manassas Park especially,” he said. “It’s critical from a military perspective to know what military commanders could see and when they could see them.
“From a public perspective, when a visitor comes to Manassas National Battlefield Park, they’re looking … to enhance their understanding as to why the Battle of Manassas played out the way it did.”
Supervisor Wally Covington, R-Brentsville, said the presentation did not sufficiently address the tree issue.
“I guess I’m a little disappointed in this,” Covington said, asking for a tree count for the entire county.
“We have to prioritize,” county archaeologist Justin Patton responded. “We have a limited budget.”
Patton showed representations of 25 viewsheds inside and outside the park, and listed a series of potential threats to their preservation, including buildings and signs built above the tree line and the expansion of Routes 29 and 234 within the park.
“As we all know, road extensions are a double-edged sword,” he said. He added that while more roads may impede some views, they would bring more visitors.
