[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 8, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39036-39039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15402]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Drafting of U.S. Nominations to the World Heritage List

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

ACTION: Second Notice and Request for Comment

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SUMMARY: This notice constitutes the Second Notice referred to in Sec. 
73.7(c) of the World Heritage Program regulations (36 CFR Part 73), and 
sets forth the decision to request that draft World Heritage 
nominations for Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Hawaii, and 
Mount Vernon, Virginia, be prepared.
    On March 19, 2008, the Department of the Interior requested public 
comment on whether any properties identified on the U.S. Tentative List 
should be nominated to the World Heritage List, and in particular 
whether Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Hawaii, and Mount 
Vernon, Virginia, should be nominated. After review of the comments 
provided by the public and consultation with the Federal Interagency 
Panel on World Heritage, the Department, in accordance with 36 CFR part 
73, has selected Papahanaumokuakea National Monument and Mount Vernon 
as proposed nominations to the World Heritage List. With the assistance 
of the Department, the owners of these sites are encouraged to prepare 
complete nomination documents for the sites in accordance with 36 CFR 
Part 73 and the nomination format required by the World Heritage 
Committee. A discussion of the decision and comments received follows.

DATES: Draft World Heritage nominations for Papahanaumokuakea Marine 
National Monument and Mount Vernon must be prepared and submitted in 
substantially complete draft form to the National Park Service by July 
15, 2008. (The World Heritage nomination format may be found at the 
World Heritage Centre Web site at http://whc.unesco.org/en/nominationform.) The National Park Service will coordinate the review 
and evaluation of the draft nominations.
    Submission of interim draft nominations to the World Heritage 
Centre must be made by September 30, 2008. The Centre is to provide 
technical comments by November 14, 2008. The Federal Interagency Panel 
for World Heritage will review draft nominations in a phone conference 
tentatively scheduled for November 19, 2008. The Interagency Panel will 
evaluate the adequacy of the nominations, the significance of the 
properties and whether the nominations should be forwarded to the World 
Heritage Centre to be considered for listing. Final submittal to the 
World Heritage Centre by the Department of the Interior through the 
Department of State is required by January 30, 2009, if the properties 
are to be considered in the current cycle of nominations to the World 
Heritage List. Submittal of final nominations must be made no later 
than that date for the World Heritage Committee to be able to consider 
them at its annual meeting in the summer of 2010.
    Protective measures must be in place before a property may be 
nominated. If a nomination cannot be completed in accordance with this 
timeline, work may continue into the following year(s) for subsequent 
submission to UNESCO.
    The public is invited to comment on the decision to nominate the 
two sites up to and including 30 days from the publication of this 
notice.

ADDRESSES: Please provide all additional comments directly to Jonathan 
Putnam, Office of International Affairs, National Park Service, 1201 
Eye Street, NW., (0050) Washington, DC 20005 or by E-mail to: 
[email protected]. Phone: 202-354-1809. Fax 202-371-1446.
    All comments will be a matter of public record and, if received in 
a timely manner, will be shared with property owners to assist in 
preparing the World Heritage nominations. Before including your 
address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying 
information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire 
comment--including your personal identifying information--may be made 
publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to 
withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Putnam, 202-354-1809 or April 
Brooks, 202-354-1808. For summary information on the U.S. Tentative 
List and how it was developed, please see the March 19, 2008, Federal 
Register notice (Volume 73, Number 54, pages 14835-14838). Complete 
information about U.S. participation in the World Heritage Program and 
the process used to develop the Tentative List is posted on the Office 
of International Affairs Web site at: http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/tentativelist.htm.
    Only the 14 properties currently included in U.S. Tentative List 
are eligible to be considered for nomination by the United States to 
the World Heritage List. Brief descriptions of the properties appear in 
a copy of the press release announcing the Tentative List, which is 
linked to the site just noted above. The U.S. Tentative List report on 
the 14 sites in the form submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre 
on January 24, 2008, appears in its entirety on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/tentativelist/WHTentList.doc. The 
full applications submitted to the National Park Service for the 
candidate sites can be viewed at http://www.nps.gov/oia/NewWebpages/ApplicantsTentativeList.html.) To request paper copies of documents 
discussed in this notice, please contact April Brooks, Office of 
International Affairs, National Park Service, 1201 Eye Street, NW., 
(0050) Washington, DC 20005. E-mail: [email protected].
    Summary of Public Comments: On March 19, 2008, the Department 
published the new Tentative List, which consists of properties that 
appear to qualify for World Heritage status and which may be considered 
for nomination by the United States to the World Heritage List, in the 
Federal Register (Volume 73, Number 54, pages 14835-14838), along with 
the request for public comment on the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National 
Monument, Mount Vernon, and the twelve other sites on the List. 
Comments were accepted through April 3, fifteen days after the date of 
publication of the notice in the Federal Register. Respondents were 
asked to address the qualifications of the Tentative List properties 
for nomination by the United States to the World Heritage List.
    A summary of the 19 public comments on the proposal to prepare 
nominations of sites from the Tentative List in 2008 appears below, 
along with the Department's responses as appropriate. The comments were 
also available to the Federal Interagency Panel on World Heritage and 
to the Department of the Interior officials who have selected the 
initial U.S. World Heritage nominations. The full texts of all the 
comments are available upon request.
    In some cases, respondents offered site-specific or general 
comments that addressed other issues, such as the merits of particular 
properties and advice on and priorities for revision of the Tentative 
List. Those comments have been retained and will remain on file to be 
considered in due course.
    Sites on the Tentative List for which no specific comments were 
received

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regarding their nomination this year are not discussed.

Cultural Sites

Mount Vernon, Virginia

    The Accokeek Foundation, a Virginia State Senator and two members 
of the Virginia House of Delegates expressed their strong support of 
the proposed nomination. US/ICOMOS expressed doubts about the prospects 
that the World Heritage Committee will find that the Mount Vernon site 
meets the World Heritage criteria. The Department acknowledges this 
concern and has provided Mount Vernon management with the comments.

Poverty Point National Monument and State Historic Site, Louisiana

    Four Members of Congress wrote to recommend that this site be 
nominated this year. The Department believes that the two other sites 
being proposed for this year would better diversify the portfolio of 
United States sites.
    US/ICOMOS recommended that this site be considered as part of a 
serial or joint nomination with other similar sites.

San Antonio Franciscan Missions, Texas

    The San Antonio Conservation Society wrote in strong support of 
this site being nominated.
    US/ICOMOS proposed this site as an alternative nomination to Mount 
Vernon. The Department will consider this recommendation for future 
years.
    One respondent expressed concerns about the name of this proposed 
nomination and desires that the Native American role at the missions be 
fully and sensitively emphasized in any nomination, including in its 
name. This recommendation will be taken into account. Another 
respondent expressed his concern that the Alamo not come under United 
Nations authority. The United Nations does not have any role in the 
management of existing or potential U.S. World Heritage sites.

Mixed Natural and Cultural Site

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Hawaii

    Strongly supportive comments for this site were received from US/
ICOMOS, the Trust for Public Land and several individuals. US/ICOMOS 
also recommended that consideration be given to treatment of the Battle 
of Midway and its associated shipwrecks and aircraft. This important 
history will be included in appropriate descriptive and historical 
sections of the nomination but will not be treated as a primary basis 
for nomination under the World Heritage cultural criteria.
    The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) 
recommended that Papahanaumokuakea not be nominated, based on their 
concerns that World Heritage designation would lead to increased 
tourism and associated impacts on the Monument's natural resources. The 
Department understands that the Monument does not plan to increase 
visitation to the site, nor does World Heritage designation require 
public access.
    WPRFMC also expressed concerns about the National Park Service 
becoming involved in the management of the Monument. The National Park 
Service will not be involved in the Monument's management.
    WPRFMC requested additional time for comment and stated doubts 
regarding the extent of support in Hawaii for the proposed nomination.
    The Department anticipates that the co-trustees of the Monument 
(the State of Hawaii, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) will address the 
concerns raised by the WPRFMC during the balance of the year as the 
World Heritage nomination is being prepared. Also, as noted elsewhere, 
the National Park Service will continue to take comments on the two 
proposed draft nominations up to and including 30 days from the 
publication of this notice.

Recommendations of the Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage

    The Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage assists the 
Department of the Interior in implementing the Convention by making 
recommendations on U.S. World Heritage policy, procedures, and 
nominations. The Panel is chaired by the Assistant Secretary for Fish 
and Wildlife and Parks and includes representatives from various 
Federal Departments and agencies with Federal land management and 
policymaking responsibilities. The Panel made its recommendations to 
the Department on the U.S. Tentative List in a conference call on April 
8, 2008.
    The Panel agreed by consensus to support the preparation of a 
nomination this year for Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. It 
took note of the comments and concerns raised by the Western Pacific 
Regional Fishery Management Council and were informed that those 
comments would be shared with the co-trustees of the site who intend to 
draft a nomination.
    Regarding Mount Vernon, the Panel acknowledged that it shared the 
concerns voiced by a few public respondents about the prospects for 
completing a nomination of Mount Vernon this year that would 
successfully address the World Heritage criteria. The World Heritage 
Committee's practice of generally discouraging the listing of sites 
associated with prominent individuals was referenced in that regard. It 
was agreed that those concerns would be shared with the Mount Vernon 
staff who are working on the proposed nomination. It was also noted 
that the property has considerable importance as an historic landscape 
important in colonial history and as a prime illustration of plantation 
life and economy, but that more documentation may be needed to 
establish its preeminence in that regard. After discussion, the Panel 
concurred in the effort to draft a nomination for Mount Vernon.
    The Panel reviewed the public suggestions for nominations for other 
properties this year from the U.S. Tentative List but did not recommend 
the preparation of nominations for any additional or alternate 
properties. It was acknowledged that, although the United States is 
eligible to nominate two sites this year, it might be preferable to 
submit only one nomination. Panel members emphasized concern that it 
would be undesirable to have any of the first nominations made by the 
United States since 1994 be unsuccessful.
    The Panel's next meeting this fall (tentatively scheduled for 
November 19, 2008) will review and recommend on draft nominations for 
Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument and Mount Vernon, if they 
are completed on schedule.
    In addition, in response to certain public comments and the 
opinions of Panel members, the Panel agreed to place the topic of the 
process for future revisions of the U.S. Tentative List, noting 
specific comments in that regard by US/ICOMOS, on the agenda for the 
Panel's next meeting.

Decision To Encourage the Preparation of Two U.S. World Heritage 
Nominations

    The Department considered both public comments received during the 
comment period and the advice of the Federal Interagency Panel for 
World Heritage in making the decisions to draft two U.S. World Heritage 
nominations. Both properties meet the initial prerequisites for 
nomination by the United States to the World Heritage List. They appear 
to meet one or more of the

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World Heritage criteria and all owners support the nomination of these 
nationally significant properties to the World Heritage List.
    Brief descriptions are provided for these potential nominations. 
The Department will make final decisions on whether to nominate these 
two sites to the World Heritage List based on complete draft World 
Heritage nominations for them. The Department encourages all interested 
parties to comment and make recommendations as the nomination process 
continues.
    Draft World Heritage nominations will be requested for the 
following sites:

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Hawaii

    This 1,200-mile-long string of islands, atolls, coral reefs and 
adjacent waters, running northwest from the main Hawaiian islands and 
encompassing over 89 million acres, is one of the world's largest and 
most significant marine protected areas. Scattered in the deep ocean 
are some 10 small islands along with extensive reefs and shoals. In 
this remote and still relatively pristine part of the Pacific, marine 
life flourishes, and the area is home to a large number of species 
found nowhere else in the world, including a wide array that are 
threatened and endangered. Large populations of seabirds nest on 
isolated sandy shores and the waters harbor impressive numbers of large 
predatory fish. The geology of the islands is also highly significant--
the chain represents the longest, clearest, and oldest example of 
island formation and atoll evolution in the world.
    Native Hawaiians reached these islands at least 1,000 years before 
any other people and established settlements on some of them. The 
islands, along with their significant archeological sites, retain great 
cultural and spiritual significance to Native Hawaiians. Midway Atoll 
and its environs was also the site of a major battle of World War II.
    Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is selected for 
nomination because, among other factors, it will, as a marine site and 
a mixed cultural and natural site in the Pacific, fill conspicuous gaps 
in the United States portfolio of World Heritage Sites. Similar gaps 
likewise exist in the World Heritage List as a whole, wherein few 
marine, Pacific, or mixed sites are listed. Its merits on both cultural 
and natural criteria are regarded as particularly outstanding. In 
addition, its co-trustees (the State of Hawaii, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration) strongly support its nomination and have assembled a 
team to prepare the documentation.

Mount Vernon, Virginia

    George Washington's long-time home, with its associated gardens and 
grounds, forms a remarkably well-preserved and extensively documented 
example of a plantation landscape of the 18th-century American South. 
Mount Vernon also has importance in the history of agronomy.
    It was based on English models but modified and adapted to its 
American context, which included slave labor as an economic basis. 
There is a core of 16 surviving 18th-century structures set in a 
landscape of gardens, fences, lanes, walkways, and other features, 
situated along the Potomac River, that changed and developed over many 
years in Washington's family. The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 
which has owned and maintained the property for 150 years, is strongly 
supportive of the site's nomination to the World Heritage List.
    George Washington's Mount Vernon is being selected for the drafting 
of a World Heritage nomination primarily because it likewise could fill 
a significant gap in the U.S. cultural site list. Colonial expressions 
of architecture and landscape are also poorly represented on the World 
Heritage List as a whole. Mount Vernon is a particularly outstanding 
example of a type of colonial landscape that was tied to the plantation 
economy based on slavery that prevailed in the American South during 
the colonial and early Federal periods. It is also the primary 
illustration of the early historic preservation movement in the United 
States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The World Heritage List is an international list of cultural and 
natural properties nominated by the signatories to the World Heritage 
Convention (1972). The United States was the prime architect of the 
Convention, an international treaty for the preservation of natural and 
cultural heritage sites of global significance proposed by President 
Richard M. Nixon in 1972, and the United States was the first nation to 
ratify it. In 2005, the United States was elected to a fourth term on 
the World Heritage Committee and will serve until 2009. The Committee, 
composed of representatives of 21 nations elected as the governing body 
of the World Heritage Convention, makes the final decisions on which 
nominations to accept on the World Heritage List at its annual meeting 
each summer.
    There are 851 sites in 140 of the 185 signatory countries. 
Currently there are 20 World Heritage Sites in the United States.
    U.S. participation and the roles of the Department of the Interior 
and the National Park Service are authorized by Title IV of the 
Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 and conducted in 
accordance with 36 CFR 73--World Heritage Convention. The National Park 
Service provides the technical and staff support to the Assistant 
Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, who has the lead role for 
the U.S. Government in the implementation of the Convention. The 
National Park Service manages all or parts of 17 of the 20 U.S. World 
Heritage Sites currently listed, including Yellowstone National Park, 
Everglades National Park, and the Statue of Liberty.
    A Tentative List is a national list of natural and cultural 
properties appearing to meet the World Heritage Committee eligibility 
criteria for nomination to the World Heritage List. A country cannot 
nominate a property unless it has been on its Tentative List for a 
minimum of a year. Countries are limited to nominating no more than two 
sites in any given year.
    Neither inclusion in the Tentative List nor inscription as a World 
Heritage Site imposes legal restrictions on owners or neighbors of 
sites, nor does it give the United Nations any management authority or 
ownership rights in U.S. World Heritage Sites, which continue to be 
subject exclusively to U.S. law. Inclusion in the Tentative List merely 
indicates that the property may be further examined for possible World 
Heritage nomination in the future.
    The World Heritage Committee's Operational Guidelines ask 
participating nations to provide Tentative Lists, which aid in 
evaluating properties for the World Heritage List on a comparative 
international basis and help the Committee to schedule its work over 
the long term. The Guidelines recommend that a nation review its 
Tentative List at least once every decade.
    In order to guide the U.S. World Heritage Program effectively and 
in a timely manner, the National Park Service prepared and submitted 
(through the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of State) a 
new Tentative List to the World Heritage Centre of UNESCO on January 
24, 2008. Submittal of nominations must be made no later than January 
30, 2009, for the World Heritage Committee to be able to consider them 
at its annual meeting in the summer of 2010.


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    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 470 a-1, a-2, d; 36 CFR 73.

Lyle Laverty,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
 [FR Doc. E8-15402 Filed 7-7-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P