Preserving our Nations Battlefields Allows Us To Walk the Fields Where History Happened. A group of concerned citizens in the Fredericksburg Virginia area decided it was time to stand up to the senseless destruction of our heritage and to form a historic lands trust. The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) was incorporated in 1996 and adopted as its mission the preservation of historic battlefield terrain. ​ Our motto became “dirt and grass.” Since then, we have helped to preserve nearly 2,000 acres of critical ground on the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House, as well as Brandy Station to date. ​ In addition to purchasing land, our mission includes advocacy for battlefield preservation. At the state and federal levels, advocacy is relatively impersonal. At the local level, advocacy unfolds in a manner much more personal, and therefore can become more confrontational. Consequently, CVBT decided early on to work in cooperation with local governments rather than in opposition to them. Over the years, we have joined in partnership with developers, preservation organizations, and local governments on several projects. We are proud of the solutions that have preserved selected ground. CVBT remains proactive, with several ongoing projects and negotiations, and with a continuing focus on, and commitment to, our mission of battlefield preservation. Today this mission also affects our quality of life and open spaces. ​ CVBT employs a staff of only two! The President and all CVBT Board members are 100% volunteer! We famously invest all we possibly can of the donations we receive into saving the battlefields.