Trees cut down at Gettysburg National Battleground; taken to papermill.

[NNadir]

It's "for history."

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- The National Park Service is cutting down trees on the Gettysburg battlefield to restore the ground to the way it was during the Civil War battle in 1863.

Culps Hill is covered with the downed trees. The park service said the decision to cut down the trees is based on maps and drawings from 1863. The park service said it hopes visitors to the battlefield will now have a better understanding of the historic landscape.

Some people said cutting down the trees ruins the area's natural beauty...

...Some of the downed trees will be taken to a paper mill.

http://www.wgal.com/news/10670145/detail.html?subid=22100741&qs=1;bp=t

I didn't know that Halliburton had paper mills in PA, but I guess they do.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Wow. They should have made stuff out of those trees and sold it. nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. 'Made of wood nourished by the blood of fallen heros'

no kidding, tangeble peices of history. Revenue would have been bigger too.

[eShirl]

8. something for the soldiers' descendants to keep and cherish. (n/t)

[Ezlivin]

2. Great! Now restore the U.S. to what it looked like in "maps and drawings from 1863"

You've got a shitload of trees to plant, National Park Service! And there's dams to bust, highways to remove, toxic waste sites to clean up and grasslands to restore.

[Captain Hilts]

7. Many areas were devoid of trees. They were cut down for fuel. nt

[XemaSab]

12. It's true

Most of the country had fewer trees... no fire suppression in the west, and farming had not moved out to the great plains and midwest, for the most part.

I've heard estimates that California had 1/10th the trees we do now.

[Massacure]

3. Proof republicans want to turn our country back 150 years.

[madrchsod]

5. makes sense to me

the restoration of battlefield to it`s historic landscape does make it easier to understand the battle. the historic accounts would make no sense if one looked over a field covered with trees. another example was the removal of pine trees along the sand dunes along the shore line of lake michigan north of chicago. the trees were planted to stop erosion but it was`t the way nature intended. restoring historic sites,buildings,and other structures should be the goal so future generations can admire and understand the past as it really was.

[Captain Hilts]

6. Correct. Forests have grown where there were fields. nt

[NNadir]

9. I live very close to where Washington Crossed the Delaware.

When Washington crossed, it was all farm fields. Now it is a deep beautiful forest, some of the nicest forest there is around here. We're going to hike there on this beautiful spring day in the middle of January.

I would freak out completely if they cut down the woods that are there now.

I've been to the Gettysburg Battlefield, though, and it would problematic, I guess, to appreciate the vast stupidity of war without seeing the open fields in which Pickett's charge took place.

[Captain Hilts]

10. That's exactly right. The 'strategy' is baldly stupid with the original vistas. nt

[kestrel91316]

11. At the crossing, the farm fields were not an integral part of the event.

It's hard to have a battlefield memorial without the battleFIELD.

I support this in principle, though I think it's CRIMINAL to send those trees for paper rather than do something commemorative with them.