National Park Service announces Virginia battlefield grants

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The National Park Service says $5.3 million in preservation funding is heading to 17 Civil War battlefields, primarily in Virginia.

The Park Service says the federal dollars from the Land and Water Conservation Fund will help preserve 1,640 battlefield acres in six other states besides Virginia. The primary source of that funding is from fees paid by oil and gas companies drilling in offshore waters.

Among the Virginia battlefields receiving the preservation funding are Appomattox Court House, Fredericksburg, Brandy Station, Gaines Mill and Sailor's Creek.