Bill introduced to include Tennessee battlefields in park system

Friday, December 6, 2013, Vol. 37, No. 49

NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has introduced legislation to include four Tennessee Civil War battlefields in the national park system.

The legislation would designate battlefields at Davis Bridge and Fallen Timbers in Tennessee and Russell House — which is in Tennessee and Mississippi — as part of Shiloh National Military Park. It would also include Parker's Crossroads of Tennessee in the system.

The National Park Service has already determined these battlefields are nationally significant and in need of preservation and protection.

The majority of the land included in the legislation is currently owned by the Civil War Trust, which lawmakers say should speed the process of including these areas in the system.

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood introduced similar legislation earlier this year.