Yorktown Battlefield will receive $2 million in federal funds to help preserve the historic area, Virginia’s U.S. senators announced Thursday.
The battlefield will receive grant funding from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program, which is funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, according to a joint news release from Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
In addition to Yorktown, the Appomattox Court House Battlefield also received $95,475 in funding.
“Virginia is home to some of America’s most historic sites, and the National Park Service and localities have worked hard to protect them from encroaching development. Virginia’s battlefields also play a key role in tourism, open space preservation, and boosting local economies. It’s important to preserve them so that future generations can visit, reflect on our history, and learn from the past,” the senators said in a prepared statement.
Over the past several years, Warner and Kaine, both Democrats, have worked to preserve historic lands, including 7,000 acres at the Petersburg National Battlefield.
President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposes eliminating the American Battlefield Protection Program, a 90-percent cut to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and a 14-percent cut to the Department of the Interior, which is the department that protects historic sites.
“Warner and Kaine have opposed President Trump’s budget cuts to Virginia priorities and will continue fighting for this funding in Congress,” the release said.
