[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 123 (Monday, October 4, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1780-E1782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROPERTIES CONSIDERED SUITABLE AS ADDITIONAL WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN 
                           THE UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD W. POMBO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 4, 2004

  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, in 1972 the United States ratified ``The 
Convention Concerning Protection of World Cultural and Natural 
Heritage'' known as the World Heritage Convention. Since then 20 
properties in the United States have been designated as World Heritage 
Sites and operated under a worldwide program administered by the United 
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 
which is based in Paris, France.
  World Heritage Sites in the United States were non-controversial 
until the Clinton administration and over-zealous environmental groups 
used Yellowstone National Park's World Heritage Site designation to 
stop a proposed gold mine located on private property outside the 
boundaries of the park. Many in Congress joined me in believing this 
mission creep of the World Heritage Convention was never envisioned 
when the United States ratified it over 30 years ago.
  I have learned that the National Park Service, pursuant to Article 11 
of the World Heritage Convention, has developed a ``Tentative'' or 
``Indicative'' List of cultural and natural properties in the United 
States that it considers suitable for inclusion to the World Heritage 
List. Presently, this list contains 70 properties in over 30 States and 
the District of Columbia.
  Based on the experience during the Clinton administration involving a 
proposed gold mine on private property located outside Yellowstone 
National Park, America must be very cautious when it proposes new areas 
for designation as World Heritage Sites. For example, I note the oil-
rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is on the ``Tentative List'' as is 
the mineral-rich Cape Krusenstern Archaeological

[[Page E1781]]

District in Alaska. World Heritage Site designation of either area 
would jeopardize America's national security and international 
competitiveness.
  Happily, the U.S. Department of the Interior believes the ``Tentative 
List'' needs to be updated for a variety of reasons. I encourage my 
colleagues to read the following letter from Deputy Assistant Secretary 
of the Interior Paul Hoffman as well as the present ``Tentative List.''

                                       Department of the Interior,


                                      Office of the Secretary,

                                  Washington, DC, August 13, 2004.
     Hon. Richard Pombo,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for your letter of July 13, 
     2004, requesting information about the United States 
     Indicative Inventory of Potential Future United States 
     Nominations to the World Heritage List. As you know, the 
     Department of the Interior, through the National Park 
     Service, directs and coordinates the United States 
     participation in the World Heritage Convention in accordance 
     with the statutory mandate of Title IV of the National 
     Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 as implemented 
     by Federal regulations (36 CFR 73).
       The Indicative Inventory, prepared by the National Park 
     Service in the early 1980s, was developed in compliance with 
     Article 11 of the Convention, which calls on participating 
     nations to submit to the World Heritage Committee an 
     inventory or tentative list of cultural and natural 
     properties that it considers suitable for inclusion in the 
     World Heritage List. The purpose of these tentative lists is 
     to enable the Committee to evaluate within the widest 
     possible context the ``outstanding universal value'' of each 
     property nominated to the List. Inclusion on a country's 
     tentative list is required before properties can be nominated 
     to the World Heritage List. However, a listing in the 
     inventory does not confer World Heritage status on the 
     property in question; it merely indicates that a property may 
     be further examined for possible nomination in the future.
       The complete U.S. Indicative Inventory was published in a 
     Federal Register notice on May 6, 1982. The full notice, 
     including a description and location for each listed 
     property, is enclosed for your review. Subsequently, two 
     properties were added to the inventory: Haleakala National 
     Park in Hawaii, added in 1983; and Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd 
     Wright's winter studio in Arizona, added at the request of 
     the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, in 1990. The two additions 
     were made by the respective Assistant Secretaries of the 
     Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks at the time, on the 
     recommendation of the Federal Interagency Panel for World 
     Heritage, in accordance with the procedures outlined in 
     Federal regulations (36 CFR 73) for implementation of the 
     World Heritage program in the United States. Although 
     conceived as a ``rolling list'' to which additions or 
     deletions could be made, no other changes to the Inventory 
     have ever been made.
       The inventory was compiled by the National Park Service 
     with input from a wide variety of sources, including Federal 
     and State agencies, elected Congressional and State 
     representatives, private industry, conservation and 
     preservation organizations, academic institutions, local 
     governments, and individuals. A draft of the inventory was 
     published for comment in 1981; the comments received were 
     summarized in the subsequent 1982 notice. Scholarly and 
     scientific evaluation was the basis for selecting the 
     properties listed in the inventory.
       While the NPS does not have documentation on who suggested 
     which sites should be included in the U.S. Indicative 
     Inventory, we believe NPS units were recommended by the park 
     superintendents and that non-Federal properties were 
     suggested by their respective owners. U.S. law requires that 
     all property owners of record of a site (1) concur with the 
     nomination of their site and (2) that they commit to 
     preserving their site in perpetuity.
       For a variety of reasons, including its desire to achieve a 
     more balanced and representative World Heritage List by 
     stepping aside to give greater opportunity to other countries 
     with few or no sites yet designated, the United States has 
     not submitted any further nominations since 1994. As stated 
     in the 1982 Federal Register notice, the inventory was 
     intended as a preliminary list of properties that appear to 
     qualify for nomination to the World Heritage List and that 
     may be considered for nomination during the next ten years. 
     From the time when the inventory was published until the 
     United States made its most recent World Heritage nomination 
     in 1994, thirteen of the properties included in it were 
     nominated and listed by the World Heritage Committee.
       After much consideration, it is our view that the current 
     Indicative Inventory is out of date and should be revised for 
     a variety of reasons, such as the changing views of heritage 
     and concerns about the geographic and thematic 
     representativity of the World Heritage List. Even the 
     approach taken to creating the list now appears outdated. We 
     intend to begin the process of revision early next year and 
     will keep you informed and look forward to your input as we 
     proceed.
       Thank you again for your interest. Please contact me if you 
     have any further questions.
           Sincerely,

                                                 Paul Roffman,

                                        Deputy Assistant Secretary
                                  for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
       Enclosure.

   Potential U.S. Nominations From the Tentative List (Complete Text)


               INDICATIVE LIST, UNITED STATES (by state)

                                Alabama

     Moundville Site

                                 Alaska

     Aleutian Islands Unit of the Alaska Maritime National
     Wildlife Refuge (Fur Seal Rookeries) C(vi); N(ii)
     Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
     Cape Krusenstern Archaeological District
     Denali National Park
     Gates of the Arctic National Park
     Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve inscribed 1992
     Katmai National Park
     Wranaell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve inscribed 1979

                                Arizona

     Casa Grande National Monument
     Grand Canyon National Park inscribed 1979
     Hohokam Pima National Monument
     Lowell Observatory
     Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
     Saguaro National Monument
     San Xavier Del Bac
     Taliesin West [added 17 Aug 90]
     Ventana Cave

                               California

     Joshua Tree National Monument
     Point Reyes National Seashore/Farallon Islands National
     Wildlife Refuge
     Redwood National Park inscribed 1980
     Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks
     Yosemite National Park inscribed 1984

                           California/Nevada

     Death Valley National Monument

                                Colorado

     Colorado National Monument
     Mesa Verde National Park inscribed 1978
     Lindenmeir Site
     Rocky Mountain National Park

                          District of Columbia

     Chapel Hall, Gallaudet College
     Washington Monument

                            Florida/Georgia

     Everglades National Park inscribed 1979
     Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

                                Georgia

     Ocmulgee National Monument
     Savannah Historic District
     Warm Springs Historic District

                                 Hawaii

     [Haleakala National Park added 21 Aug 83]
     Hawaii Volcanoes National Park inscribed 1987
     Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park

                                Illinois

     Auditorium Building, Chicago
     Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site inscribed 1982
     Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Store, Chicago
     Eads Bridge, Illinois-St. Louis, Missoui
     Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
     Leiter II Building, Chicago
     Marquette Building, Chicago
     Reliance Building, Chicago
     Robie House, Chicago
     Rookery Building, Chicago
     South Dearborn Street-Printing House Row North Historic 
         District
     Unity Temple, Oak Park

                                Indiana

     New Harmony Historic District

                               Louisiana

     Poverty Point

                                 Maine

     Acadia National Park

                             Massachusetts

     Goddard Rocket Launching Site

                                Missouri

     Wainright Building, St. Louis

                                Montana

     Glacier National Park inscribed 1995

                          New Jersey/New York

     Statue of Liberty National Monument inscribed 1984

                               New Mexico

     Carlsbad Caverns National Park inscribed 1995
     Chaco Culture National Historical Park inscribed 1987
     Pecos National Monument
     Taos Pueblo inscribed 1992 Trinity Site

                                New York

     Brooklyn Bridge
     General Electric Research Laboratories, Schenectady
     Prudential (Guaranty) Building, Buffalo
     Pupin Physics Laboratory, Columbia University
     Original Bell Telephone Laboratories

                        North Carolina/Tennessee

     Great Smoky Mountains National Park inscribed 1983

                                  Ohio

     Mound City Group National Monument

                                 Oregon

     Crater Lake National Park

                              Pennsylvania

     Fallingwater

[[Page E1782]]

     Independence National Historic Site inscribed 1979

                                 Texas

     Big Bend National Park
     Guadalupe Mountains National Park

                                  Utah

     Arches National Park
     Bryce Canyon National Park
     Canyonlands National Park
     Capitol Reef National Park
     Rainbow Bridge National Monument
     Lion National Park

                                Virginia

     McCormick Farm and Workshop
     Monticello inscribed 1987
     University of Virginia Historic District inscribed 1987
     Virginia Coast Reserve

                               Washington

     Mount Rainier National Park
     Olympic National Park inscribed 1981
     North Cascades National Park

                               Wisconsin

     Taliesin

                                Wyoming

     Grand Teton National Park

                            Wyoming/Montana

     Yellowstone National Park inscribed 1978

                              Puerto Rico

     La Fortaleza-San Juan National Historical Site inscribed 1983
       These sites are further detailed in the following Public 
     Notice in the Federal Register (47 FR 9648), as amended by 48 
     FR 38101 and 55 FR 33781).

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