CWPT's 70,000 members are America's premier battlefield preservationists. They contributed more than $11 million in unrestricted gifts in 2006, resulting in more than 1,255 acres of hallowed ground saved from development. One long-time member from New York says, "Since a young age, the Civil War has been a part of my life. I started out wanting to be a relic collector, but what good will that be 100 years from now?" Concerned about the plight of America's battlefields, he began donating "a little bit, here and there," to CWPT's direct mail appeals. He sees his membership - which he has extended through 2005 - as his way to respect those men who fought on hallowed ground. "We owe it to our past to save these battlefields," he says. Another committed member from Mississippi is looking at the other end of the time spectrum. To her, being a member is "an investment in our nation's future by protecting our past. We have to save the battlefields to make sure our history won't be forgotten by those coming up," she says. "Now, it takes a little money and, in this economy, you have to plan for it, but we've got to do it."
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