WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Development threatens to engulf Civil War battlefields, a preservationist group said as it released its annual list of endangered battle sites on Wednesday. Civil War reenactors fire a cannon at the Gettysburg, Pennsylavnia, battlefield in 2003. "In town after town, the irreplaceable battlefields that define those communities are being marred forever," said James Lighthizer, the head of the Civil War Preservation Trust. "As we approach the sesquicentennial of the bloodiest conflict in our nation's history, we need to be more aware than ever of the importance of preserving these sacred places for generations to come." The group says it has helped save more than 25,000 acres of Civil War battlefields in 18 states.
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Development threatens to destroy historic Civil War sites, group says
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Trash processing center may be built near Maryland battlefield
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Wal-Mart proposes store adjacent to Virginia's Wilderness battlefield
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Sites are "irreplaceable treasures," actor Richard Dreyfuss says
In Virginia, the group is fighting to keep a Wal-Mart Supercenter from going up on the edge of the @placeholder, which also is on this year's list.