Please Distribute To All Interested Parties
For Immediate Release
June 28, 2000

NPS ENCOURAGES PUBLIC TO PARTICIPATE IN
REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND WAR OF 1812 STUDY
__________________________________________________

The National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP)
invites you to participate in a national study of battle and associated historic
sites of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.  The ABPP has been working
for more than a year to identify sites in preparation for the Revolutionary War
and War of 1812 Historic Preservation Study, as mandated by Congress.  After
months of consulting primary and secondary sources, State Historic Preservation
Offices, and the National Register of Historic Places, we have identified an
initial list of nearly 1,600 sites.  However, our task is not complete.  No
single source provides an accurate comprehensive listing of all the significant
events pertaining to these two wars.  We based our research on the best
available sources given limited time and resources.  For this reason, we believe
our list may be incomplete and some entries may need to be corrected.

We need your help.  From now until July 14, 2000, the list of sites will be
available for public comment and review on the ABPP web site at
www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/rev1812.htm.  The interactive site allows you to comment on
the accuracy and completeness of our information about the sites, recommend new
sites to the list, and most importantly, evaluate each site's level of
historical significance.  We strongly encourage you to review battle list and
the associated historic property list and assess the significance of sites
familiar to you.  Since we will be making changes to the website as we receive
and review comments, you may wish to check back several times.

Your comments will help the ABPP create a final, comprehensive site list for use
in the national study.  The comprehensive list will be the starting point for
prioritizing significant events, defining campaigns, and guiding our selections
for field survey.  Although only a small portion of the sites will be field
surveyed, the comprehensive list will be included in the final published report
to the Secretary of the Interior and Congress.

Please forward this message to your colleagues on staff and in local historical
societies.  The public comment period ends July 14, 2000.  Make sure your local
Revolutionary War and War of 1812 historic places are included in the final
report to the Secretary and Congress.  Visit the website today!  If you do not
have access to the Internet, please request paper copies of the site lists from
the ABPP at 1849 C Street, NW (NC330), Washington, DC 20240, (202) 343-3941, or
[log in to unmask]

Thank you for your help!

Tanya Gossett
Study Coordinator
American Battlefield Protection Program
National Park Service
Washington, DC