Top historian says Fort Ann battlefield should be preserved

Paul Hawke, director of the Department of Interior’s American Battlefield Protection Program, toured on Tuesday the site of the July 8, 1777, skirmish between Colonial and English forces during the lead-up to the critical battle at Saratoga.

“When you talk about a battlefield, you talk about hallowed ground,” Hawke said, following a tour of the site by local opponents of Troy Topsoil Co.’s proposed rock quarry. “What you have up there is worth preserving.”

Troy Topsoil would like to blast out a 30- to 40-acre surface mine atop the mountain on land owned by local resident Gino Vona.

The proposed quarry falls in the heart of the defined battlefield, according to Department of Interior surveys.

Vona and Troy Topsoil are in the midst of filing permit applications with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, state Historic Preservation Office and the Army Corps of Engineers, company officials said.

Hawke’s opinion could create a hurdle for the project sponsors.

“If there’s a federal agency that needs to know about it, I’ll let them know,” Hawke said.

Local and Washington County historical societies oppose the quarry.

The town Planning Board voted away its ability to weigh in on the project in 2009, town officials said.

Hawke said about one acre of battlefield is lost every hour in the United States.

Vona said he’s offered to donate a small sliver of the site, about 20 or 30 acres, for preservation and he questions whether stalling a project that could create jobs, for the sake of historic preservation, is an appropriate governmental move.

“These men fought against the king who was taking their things. Many of them were just regular, hard-working people,” Vona said. “Aren’t we talking about doing the same thing?”

Richard Speidel, who is handling the environmental review for DEC, said the concerns of local and federal historians do carry weight during DEC’s application review.

The Battlefield Protection Program, founded in 1990, has for most of its history focused on the acquisition and preservation of Civil War sites, but it has broadened its scope over the last decade to include Revolutionary War and War of 1812 battlefields.

Unlike Civil war sites, the federal government doesn’t provide cash for direct federal acquisition of Revolutionary War sites. The program instead offers millions in grants for local acquisition or easement initiatives.

Hawke said the easement program gives the landowner a cash incentive to preserve the land, while allowing surrounding parts of the property to remain in use.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., proposed legislation earlier this year that would expand the federal government’s $10 million pool of direct acquisition cash to non-Civil War battlefields.

Hawke said his program often leaves the final decision on a site’s future up to the local community and government.

He noted that the Interior Department lists Battle Hill as a “priority 2” site, meaning it was significant in the outcome of the war, while not carrying the seminal importance of sites like Saratoga and Ticonderoga.

The priority 2 designation places Battle Hill among the top 80 most significant and threatened sites in the country, Hawke said.

Hawke said he believes as much as 70 percent of the hill should be preserved for future generations to tour and interpret.

“Personally, I’d love to preserve it, said Fort Ann Supervisor Darlene Dumas.

Vona said he’s willing to compromise, but the two sides appear to be far apart on the question of how much should be preserved.

Vona said he would be willing to negotiate with opponents after all of the facts are known. He has hired historians and archaeologists to survey the site and determine the location of the battlefield.

A roundtable discussion among stakeholders is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 28 at the Fort Ann Central School.