General Management Plan / Environmental Impact Statement

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Dear Friends:

Posted on this website is the Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for Manassas National Battlefield Park. The electronic copy of the plan is available for download.No sooner than 30 days following the publication of this final document the National Park Service will execute a Record of Decision to complete the general management planning process.

This plan identifies and assesses three management alternatives and corresponding environmental impacts relative to natural and cultural resource management, visitor use and access, and general development. This plan will replace an outdated 1983 General Management Plan and will guide park management for the next 15 to 20 years. A separate environmental impact statement has been developed for the Manassas National Battlefield Park Bypass, which is designed to remove commuter traffic from state and U.S. routes in the park.

The General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement analyzed a "no-action" alternative and two "action" alternatives:
Alternative A, the no-action alternative, represents the continuation of existing conditions and provides a basis for comparing the other alternatives.

Alternative B, the National Park Service's preferred alternative, focuses on interpreting the two Battles of Manassas as distinct military events. The visitor center at Henry Hill would orient visitors to the park as a whole while focusing on First Manassas, while a separate visitor contact station would focus on the events of Second Manassas.

Alternative C focuses on the "watershed" events of the battles, encouraging visitors towards one major visitor center and multiple interpretive sites. The visitor center at Henry Hill, where a portion of the first battle took place, would be removed and a new visitor center would be constructed near Stone Bridge.

Public participation has been an important component of the successful development of this general management plan. The final plan includes a discussion of the comments received on the draft plan and the National Park Service's response. To address some of the comments received, modifications have been made to the preferred alternative. For example, under the preferred alternative the modern highway bridge on U. S. Route 29 will be removed and a new bridge and access road will be constructed south of the modern bridge in a location with fewer adverse impacts on the cultural landscape, visitor experience, and interpretation. It will also allow for continued emergency access through the park when necessary. In the draft general management plan this approach was only included in alternative C.

We thank you in advance for your attention and we appreciate your interest in the future of Manassas National Battlefield Park.


Sincerely,

Superintendent,
Ed W. Clark, Manassas National Battlefield Park

Contact Information

Ed W. Clark, Superintendent
Manassas National Battlefield
12521 Lee Highway
Manassas, VA 20109-2005