News----The Unprotected Battlefield: Adams County Land Conservation Effort

The Unprotected Battlefield: Conservationists Fight ot Prevent Development o9f Privately Owned Land With The National Park, T. W. Burger, The Harrisburg Patriot-News,May 21, 2008

The town is famous because it was under fire in 1863. Gettysburg National Military Park, with 6,000 acres of Civil War battleground, continues to be under assault. More than a year ago, it was the threat of a slots casino being built nearby. A few months after that plan was snuffed, someone else suggested building an amusement park four miles away. Now, sights are on the private land within the park.

A study done this year shows that 1,054 acres -- one out of every five acres in the park's boundary -- are unprotected from development. The nonprofit group that operates the Gettysburg visitors center bought an 80-acre farm this month within the boundary and donated it to the National Park Service. The George Spangler Farm was in the middle of the Union line during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. It was used as an artillery and ammunition support facility and field hospital. The Gettysburg Foundation paid owners Ronald, Richard and Clarence Andrew $1.9 million for the farm.

Gettysburg National Military Park Superintendent John A. Latschar called the purchase an important step in protecting the battlefield. But in early April, the National Parks Conservation Association released the first comprehensive look in decades at development threats to land within national parks. The report highlights 55 parks and included a case study on Gettysburg National Military Park.

The National Park Service estimated that the Gettysburg park's top acquisition priorities are 119 acres of private property within its boundary that are for sale for about $3.6 million. While a March poll performed by Peter Hart Research Associates said 77 percent of voters think the federal government should protect national parks by buying private land within them, the work is being done, at least in Gettysburg, by individuals and nonprofit groups.

Dean Shultz, 69, owner of Gettysburg Engineering, owns a stone pre-Civil War house on the banks of Rock Creek. It was used as a field hospital during the war and has bloodstains on its floor planks to prove it. Shultz is a co-founder of the Adams County Land Conservancy, which, with other organizations, has preserved more than 500 acres in and around the battlefield. Shultz and his wife, Judy, own 100 acres of battlefield ground. He said the property will be protected but didn't want to discuss details.

His company office is on battlefield ground, and it's portable. "It's a mobile home, and when I don't need it anymore, it will be hauled away and the ground returned to the deer," he said. Shultz said most people assume that private land within the park is automatically safe from development. But "these inholdings are privately owned, and they can be developed in any way that the local municipalities permit," he said.

The Gettysburg park spreads across five municipalities, with a wide range of zoning. Its boundary was established in 1990. The National Park Service has a policy not to use eminent domain to take private property, even within that boundary. "On that basis, no municipality can turn down a project just because it's within the boundary. That's why those inholdings are not protected," Shultz said. The preferred method of dealing with the private land is for the park service to purchase the development rights -- easements -- if only because that is less expensive than purchasing the properties outright, park service spokeswoman Katie Lawhon said.

Lawhon said she could not say exactly how many, or even if any, properties were in process of sale or easements. The good news is the park service frequently gets calls from property owners who would like to sell. The bad news is that there's nothing in the piggy bank, Lawhon said. "We've had no money for the past several years," she said.

The last time Congress put anything into the park service's pocket for land acquisition at Gettysburg was in 2001. The proposed federal budget for 2009 has $2.2 million, but that's not in the bag, Lawhon said.

T.W. BURGER: 255-4123 or tburger@patriot-news.com

Text Source:
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Photo of Dean Schultz by Chris Marks gburginfo.brinkster.net/.../Muster2005Photos.htm

News---The Numbers, The Battlefield, And The County

Study: Gettysburg Draws 2.9 Million Visitors Each Year, Erin James, Evening Sun Reporter, March 22, 2008.

2.9 million - It's the number of light years between Earth and nearby galaxy M33, the number of people who watched the 100th episode of One Tree Hill last week and the number of votes Green Party candidate Ralph Nader received in the 2000 presidential election.

When it comes to Gettysburg, 2.9 million is also the average number of people who visit town every year. That's news to the Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, which this week released the findings of a 2007 study on Gettysburg tourism. The first-time study, conducted by the California University of Pennsylvania's Tourism Research Center, explores the demographics of people who visit the famous town and the factors that drew them there in the first place.

One way researchers collected data was through a survey form, filled out by and collected from more than 1,200 visitors. Other methods of collecting information, such as checking local hotel occupancy rates, gave researchers the ability to calculate larger numbers, like the figure of 2.9 million visitors per year. The study's findings are an invaluable resource for the Visitors Bureau, which until now could only guess how many people were visiting the area, where they were coming from and how satisfied they were with the experience.

"This is the first time that we've been able to put a number to the visitation for Gettysburg," said Carl Whitehill, spokesman for the Visitors Bureau. What that means for the Visitors Bureau - and the community in general - is the ability to better market and advertise Gettysburg as a tourist destination, Whitehill said.
Everyone knows tourists go to the battlefield, which reportedly attracts 1.7 million tourists every year, according to the Gettysburg National Military Park.

What was unknown is how many tourists were taking advantage of attractions elsewhere. According to the results of the 2007 study, the borough is attracting at least a million more people than the battlefield alone. "That means they're going other places," Whitehill said. "People are visiting other attractions in Gettysburg." Upon taking the position as president of the Visitors Bureau two years ago, Norris Flowers said he realized the bureau needed to establish some benchmark tourism numbers in order to effectively gauge the success of its marketing campaigns later on. "It was very apparent that you base your strategies on research," Flowers said. "And we had no research."

Here's a surprising statistic. According to the Tourism Research Center's study, more women visited Gettysburg than men last year - 52.1 percent compared to 47.9 percent of the survey's respondents. But consider the fact that Boyd's Bear Country and the Gettysburg Factory Stores were two of 12 survey areas, and the statistic makes more sense. Gender is just one of many ways the study breaks down the demographics of Gettysburg tourists.

Of particular interest to the Visitors Bureau are the study's findings on visitors' length of stay, their satisfaction with the experience and how often they return to Gettysburg. On average, visitors stay in town for 1.23 days - nearly three times longer than previous research indicated. A 1994 survey, conducted through the park service, indicated that visitors stayed an average of nine hours.

Repeat visitation is also significant in Gettysburg, according to the 2007 study. About 55 percent of those surveyed said it was not their first time in town, and, on average, visitors said they were "likely" or "very likely" to return again. And most rated the experience between "good" and "excellent." Nearly all said they would recommend a trip to Gettysburg to others. As far as demographics go, the "typical" Gettysburg tourist would be an American 47-year-old woman who has earned a bachelor's degree and makes between $50,000 and $59,999 a year. More in-depth analysis of the study's results is ongoing, Whitehill said.

Future plans

Last year's tourist season was the first one studied by the California University of Pennsylvania's Tourism Research Center, but it won't be the last. But this time, researchers will not focus solely on Gettysburg. The whole of Adams County will be included in the 2008 study, Whitehill said. "That number will obviously be higher than Gettysburg even," he said.

Tourism is the top money-making industry in the county, where more than $310 was spent by visitors in 2005, according to the bureau. The bureau itself spends about $800,000 every year to market the area as a tourist destination. And the plan is to use the study's findings as a way to attract more tourists and dollars to Gettysburg in the future, Whitehill said. Flowers said he expects tourism numbers to increase this year, with the opening of the new Visitors Center and the Wills House.

With a benchmark already established, the bureau can turn the study's findings into a marketing tool, Whitehill said. "We'll use it locally to reinforce that tourism is the number one industry in the county," he said.

Following are some findings of a 2007 study about tourism in Gettysburg conducted by California University of Pennsylvania's Tourism Research Center. Researchers conducted surveys of 1,281 tourists throughout Gettysburg at different times of year.

Findings show:

* Of all visitors, 97.98 percent were from the United States. International visitation came mostly from the United Kingdom and Canada.


* The average age of adult visitors was 47. Children under 18 were not included in the study.

* Of those surveyed, 55 percent said the visit was not their first trip to Gettysburg, and 45 percent said they were visiting for the first time.

* In terms of length of stay, 51.8 percent said they were staying one day or less, 23.7 percent were staying one night, and 24.5 percent were staying more than one night.

* On average, visitors said they spent $292.45 on their trip. Transportation cost the most at an average of $127.19.

* Of those surveyed, 88.7 percent said they visited the Gettysburg National Military Park on the same trip.

* On average, respondents rated the likelihood of their returning to Gettysburg between "likely" and "very likely."

* Nearly 100 percent said they would recommend Gettysburg as a destination to others.

Contact: Erin James at ejames@eveningsun.com.

Source: http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_8659896?source=most_emailed

Other Voices---Adams County, PA Historical Society Moves Forward

Scanning History: Old Documents Digitized By Historical Society, Erin James, Evening Sun, February 6, 2008.

Wayne Motts is a "book guy." That's not too weird considering Motts is a historian.
But this self-proclaimed "book guy" has recently become a digital-loving, scanner-feeding, key-word-searching type of guy as well. That's because Motts is at the center - literally - of an effort by the Adams County Historical Society to digitize its vast collection of first-person accounts and other materials related to the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Battle of Gettysburg Research Center opened in early January at the headquarters of the county's historical society, which Motts heads as executive director. Digitizing materials has been a goal for years, Motts said. But the idea of opening a research center that features a digital collection of information specifically about the battle - which means the material is entered into a computer and searchable with software - was first introduced in May, Motts said. "Historical society staff and volunteers have been working toward the realization of that goal ever since", he said. The main benefit of digitizing materials is two-fold.

First, the historical society can borrow materials from other local organizations - such as the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides - and enter them into the center's database, making more information accessible to the public in one place.
Second, the digital collection is a huge time saver for serious researchers", Motts said. "But so far, one of the more noticeable results has been that a lot of "book guys" are turning into guys of the more digital type", he said.

Even the naysayers who first balked at the idea are getting comfortable at the keyboards of the center's two computers, Motts said. "Now we can't get them out of here," he joked. Tom Greaney pecks on the keyboard at the Battle of Gettysburg Research Center, searching for information on a corporal in the 9th Virginia Infantry. It's part of his self-help training on how to use the center's new software, so that he might eventually help others find what they're looking for.

The former New York City resident is new to the center and to Gettysburg - where he jokes he recently moved for the "wild evening night life." In reality, Greaney said he came to Gettysburg because of his love for Civil War history. And he's jumped in with both feet to help the historical society realize its goal of making its material accessible by computer software. "It's kind of a one-stop shopping type place," Greaney said of the research center.

What was once available only on paper is slowly but surely being scanned into the historical society's computers and stored as information on its state-of-the-art server. The books and binders remain on the shelves, but eventually Motts said the organization hopes to consolidate all of its materials onto the computers for easier, more convenient searching. The first priority, however, are materials related to the battle, hence the center that bears its name, Motts said.

Particularly when it came to first-person accounts - of which the historical society has 220 - researchers were limited by paper materials, he said. "You could only strictly search by someone's name," Motts said. Now, anyone can use key-word searches to narrow the field of information on a particular subject. For example, someone interested in first-person accounts of civilians who lived in Straban Township could simply search "Straban Township" and immediately eliminate the accounts of people from other municipalities.

And, the historical society is exponentially increasing the amount of information stored at its facility by borrowing materials from other groups and scanning them. Much of the new information is coming from the archives of the licensed battlefield guides, a group that has its own library of materials related to the battle. "But the regular public didn't have access," Motts said.

The center is open to the public - at a fee of $5 per day for non-members - during regular hours of the historical society, which is housed at Schmucker Hall of the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Appointments are not necessary, Motts said.
To complement the convenience of digital searching, Motts said the center will also have regular volunteers to help researchers looking for information. "If we don't have it, we're going to be able to point you in the right direction," he said.

Seated in front of another historical society computer, Jason Tercha is getting an education he couldn't have anticipated. The Gettysburg College student is an intern at the historical society and has been charged with the task of scanning dozens of files of materials onto the computer. Tercha, a history student, can't read it all, but he does his best. "I just grab a packet and read through what's interesting," he said. Tercha was using the slower of two scanners used by the historical society to transfer information from paper to digital form. The faster scanner processes as many as 500 pages in a matter of minutes. It - as well as a server, computers and software - was purchased with grant money and donations, Motts said.

"There's no way the historical society could afford that without assistance," Motts said of the equipment needed to make the research center a reality. Motts predicts the center will have scanned the majority of its battle-related materials by the fall. Beyond that, it will likely take more than a year to digitize non-Civil War related files, he said.

The project also includes photographs, which take time because they require accurate captions, Motts said. Unlike the mindless job of feeding pages through a scanner, captioning Civil War-era photos requires the expertise of a knowledgeable historian - meaning the historical society must rely on volunteers, Motts said. "Anybody can do the labor of scanning," Motts said.

The Battle of Gettysburg Research Center at the Adams County Historical Society is located in Schmucker Hall in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, 61 Seminary Ridge in Gettysburg. The center is open during regular hours, which are Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. The center is also open Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. The center is free to use for members of the historical society but is open to non-members for a fee of $5 per day. Appointments are not necessary, but calls can be placed to (717) 334-4723.

Top Photo: Jason Tercha, an intern from Gettysburg College scans documents in the basement of the Adams County Historical Society
Bottom Photo: A magnifying lens shows detail on a map of Adams County at The Battle of Gettysburg.
Source: http://www.eveningsun.com/adamsweekly/ci_8185919
Contact: Erin James at ejames@eveningsun.com.