ixThe lands within Antietam National Bat-tlefield are much as they were on the day of the battle and the park is charged with maintaining them in historical land use to preserve the view of the battle. The first step in framing this Natural Resource Condition Assessment was to define the key habitats within the park. Habitats 'man-aged for natural resource values' were the natural habitats (forests, wetlands and wa-terways, warm-season grasslands) and were assessed for ecological value, while habitats 'managed for agricultural values' (croplands and pastures) were assessed for being the most ecologically sustainable croplands and pastures possible.