Shenandoah Park supporters are near their goal of acquiring a contiguous tract of land but are frustrated by landowners who won’t sell and squatters who refuse to move. Virginia Governor Harry Byrd and Virginia State Commission on Conservation and Development chairman William Carson persuade the state legislature to pass the Public Park Condemnation Act, granting eminent domain to purchase all land at fair market agricultural value. In the picture above, Melanchton Cliser and his wife (sitting on the porch) are being removed by Sheriff E.L. Lucas (left) and Deputy Claude Shaver from the newly designated Shenandoah National Park.
Lucas Forcefully Removes Residents
