Chesapeake Bay Foundation supports a Fort Monroe national park

HAMPTON -- The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is lending its support to efforts to turn historic Fort Monroe into a national park when the Army leaves the post in 2011.

"The sense I get is that it hasn't been evaluated to the extent that it should be," said Christy Everett, the foundation's Hampton Roads director. "If this isn't an open-space opportunity, I don't know what is."

Everett wrote an Oct. 28 letter commenting on a draft environmental-impact statement that calls for allowing some development.

In the letter, Everett said a national park would likely have "favorable environmental consequences" on the 570-acre post and its adjacent land and water.

The letter advocates a handful of actions, including developing a natural buffer along the shore of Mill Creek, and warns of potential negative effects that development would have on animal habitats and vegetation.

It further argues that President Barack Obama's executive order to restore the Chesapeake Bay should be considered in determining the fort's future.

The bay foundation is the most visible environmental group to weigh in on Fort Monroe, which has been the subject of an intense debate since federal leaders announced four years ago that they would close the post.

"The environmental aspect has not received the attention that the historic issues have," said Mark Perreault, president of grass-roots advocacy group Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park. "I think that's changing with the bay foundation coming in."

Still, the fort's future remains clouded. An 18-member panel will eventually decide what will become of the post when the Army leaves in 2011. It is being considered for commercial and residential development.