Pond near the Whitham Farm with the Allegheny Mountains in the background.

Prepare General Management Plan

Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historic Park » Prepare General Management Plan » Document List

August 2, 2011

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the National Park Service planning team, I am pleased to announce that the Record of Decision for the General Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park has been approved.

The approval of the Record of Decision marks an important milestone in the preservation and interpretation of the park's resources. With this approval, the General Management Plan may now be implemented. The plan is a vision for the next 15 to 20 years of the park's future and addresses numerous issues, including preservation of cultural and natural resources, land protection, interpretation and visitor experiences, visitor facilities, access and circulation, and partnership collaboration. The plan also makes clear that private landowners located within the park boundary have all the rights and responsibilities as those located outside the park boundary.

The plan for the new model partnership park took six years to develop and involved a significant collaborative effort with the park's legislated Key Partners, the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park Advisory Commission, local and state government agencies and the public, and involved more than 80 meetings with the public and stakeholders. The legislated Key Partners include the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, Belle Grove, Inc, Shenandoah County, Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

I welcome your continued support of Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. As resources become available, we hope to better preserve and interpret the locations where the park's nationally significant stories occurred, from the first Native Americans who hunted and camped along Cedar Creek, to the early pioneers who traveled the Great Wagon Road in the 1730's to settle the Valley, to the soldiers North and South who fought and died on this hallowed ground in the 1860's.

Diann Jacox
Superintendent


--To view a copy of the Record of Decision, please click on the 'Document List' link on the left side of this page--


Contact Information

Diann Jacox
Superintendent
Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park
7718 1⁄2 Main Street
Middletown, Virginia 22645
(540) 868–9176