National Park Service’s ABPP: Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant

NPS ABPP offers Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants (BLAGs) to assist state and local governments and, when applicable, their nonprofit partners acquire and preserve eligible Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War battlefield lands. Funding for the BLAG program is made available from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and is awarded competitively. Each grant requires a dollar-for-dollar non-Federal match. Grants are available to purchase 1) land in fee simple or 2) permanent, protective interests in land (easements) at Civil War battlefields listed in the Civil War sites Advisory Commission’s (CWSAC) Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields (1993) and the principal battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 identified in NPS ABPP’s Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States (2007) (Survey Reports).

Applications are accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis. Applications for acquisition of lands at eligible battlefield and associated sites rated as Preservation Priority I and II properties will be given precedence in processing, evaluation, and award recommendations. Eligible battlefields and associated sites (“eligible sites”) have been assigned a battlefield or “survey” code in the Survey Reports. Boundaries for most eligible battlefields are defined in NPS survey data. Eligible acquisitions should lie within the boundaries of eligible sites. If the land to be acquired overlaps the battlefield boundary, a majority (more than 50%) of the land must be within the boundary for the proposal to be eligible for funding.