[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 135 (Thursday, July 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41517-41521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17769]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-OIA-WASO-0711-7740; 0050-673]
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice constitutes the Second Notice in the Federal
Register referred to in Sec. 73.7(f) of the World Heritage Program
regulations (36 CFR Part 73). It sets forth the decision to request
that draft World Heritage nominations for 11 ``Frank Lloyd Wright
Buildings'' (in Arizona, California, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) and ``Poverty Point State Historic Site and
National Monument,'' Louisiana, be prepared, thereby notifying the
owners and the public of this decision.
On December 14, 2010 (75 FR 77901), the Department of the Interior
requested public comment on which property or properties on the U.S.
World Heritage Tentative List should be nominated next by the United
States to the World Heritage List. This was the First Notice in the
Federal Register, pursuant to 36 CFR 73.7(c). The Tentative List
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. The current Tentative List was transmitted to the
UNESCO World Heritage Centre on January 24, 2008.
After review of the comments provided by the public and
consultation with the Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage, the
Department, in accordance with 36 CFR Part 73, has selected ``Frank
Lloyd Wright Buildings'' and ``Poverty Point State Historic Site and
National Monument'' from the Tentative List 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, the nomination process and schedule and a
summary of the comments as received follows.
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
policy-making responsibilities. The Panel made its recommendations to
the Department of the Interior on the next U.S. World Heritage
nominations at a meeting on May 9, 2011.
The Panel agreed by consensus to support the preparation of
nominations at this time for ``Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings'' and
``Poverty Point State Historic Site and National Monument.'' The Panel
reviewed the public suggestions for nominations for other properties at
this time from the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List but did not
recommend the preparation of nominations for any additional or
alternate properties, noting that other good candidates on the
Tentative List would need more substantial work or assistance before
they could be expected to develop viable nominations. Panel members
emphasized the considerable
[[Page 41518]]
work and cost involved in developing nomination documents, and wanted
to ensure that any nominations drafted have the best possible chance of
success when they may be considered by the World Heritage Committee.
Decision To Request the Preparation of Two U.S. World Heritage
Nominations
The Department considered all comments received during the comment
period as well as the advice of the Federal Interagency Panel for World
Heritage in making the decisions to request drafts for two U.S. World
Heritage nominations.
Brief descriptions are provided for these potential nominations
along with a summary of the comments about them that had been received
and were considered as part of this process. The Department will decide
whether to nominate these two sites to the World Heritage List based on
complete draft World Heritage nominations for them. Draft World
Heritage nominations are requested of the owners for the following
sites. The titles of the nominations are subject to revision as the
drafts are developed:
Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings
Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois (1905-08);
Frederick C. Robie House, Chicago, Illinois (1908-10);
Hollyhock House, Los Angeles, California (1919-21);
Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin (1911 and later);
Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania (1936-38);
Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House, Madison, Wisconsin (1937);
S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Administration Building and Research
Tower, Racine, Wisconsin (1936-39; 1943-50);
Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona (1938);
Price Tower, Bartlesville, Oklahoma (1953-56);
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York (1956-59);
Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, California (1960-69).
These eleven properties are among the most iconic, intact,
representative, innovative, and influential of the more than 400 Frank
Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) designs that have been erected. They span
almost sixty years of his efforts to create an ``organic architecture''
that attracted widespread international attention and powerfully
affected the course of modern architecture around the world as well as
in the United States. The properties include his two long-time homes
with studios and schools, four residences he designed for others, two
office complexes, a place of worship, a museum, and a governmental
complex.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings were selected to prepare a
nomination as the candidate on the Tentative List with the strongest
international recognition of global significance. It would be the first
U.S. nomination for 20th-century architecture, an area in which the
United States has had a major impact. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building
Conservancy is providing strong leadership in the preparation of a
nomination.
The Department received 16 comments on this proposal; nine
expressed general support. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy,
which is coordinating the nomination effort, detailed the work
completed so far, including organizing the owners of the properties to
coordinate management, obtaining advice from Wright scholars, and
drafting nomination material. The Conservancy also requested that the
Herbert and Katharine Jacobs House in Madison, Wisconsin, Wright's
first ``Usonian'' house, be added to the group of buildings. Three
comments stated that this is the strongest candidate on the Tentative
List and should be the next to be nominated. Two comments suggested
changing the name of the proposal. Three comments suggested adding
other Wright buildings to the series (not including the Jacobs House).
The Department agrees that the Jacobs House, which was initially
part of the 2007 proposal by the Conservancy, should be part of the
nomination; the Wisconsin Historical Society now holds a preservation
covenant on the house. Other than this addition, the Department
believes that the Conservancy has followed a systematic and defensible
process to identify the most significant Wright buildings to include,
and does not support further additions.
The Department is prepared to reconsider the name of the series to
ensure that the emphasis of the nomination is on the significance of
the buildings rather than their architect.
Poverty Point, Louisiana
This vast complex of earthen structures, constructed 3,100-3,700
years ago, may be the largest hunter-gatherer settlement that has ever
existed. Located on a bayou west of the Mississippi River in
northeastern Louisiana, it is an integrated complex of earthen mounds,
enormous concentric ridges, and a large plaza. Not only was it the
largest and most elaborate settlement of its time in North America, it
was, more significantly, built by a foraging society of hunter-
gatherers, not a settled agricultural people, which makes it without
parallel in world archeological and ethnographic records, challenging
anthropology's basic assumptions about hunter-gatherer societies.
Poverty Point was selected to prepare a World Heritage nomination
because it is a virtually unique archeological site that is recognized
internationally. The nomination effort has the strong support of the
State of Louisiana, which has shown excellent progress in developing
materials for a nomination. The Department received 10 comments on this
site; four expressed general support. Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne,
speaking for the State of Louisiana as the owner of the site, expressed
strong support for the effort and cited work done in preparation for a
nomination, including consultation with international experts. Two
state senators emphasized the site's readiness to prepare a nomination.
The International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management
stated that the proposal is well justified and that the Louisiana team
is capable of preparing a satisfactory nomination. Two comments
recommended that the site be combined with the Hopewell Ceremonial
Earthworks and Serpent Mound, the other archeological sites on the
Tentative List; one of these suggested that the grouping be an
extension to the Cahokia Mounds World Heritage Site in Illinois. The
Department believes that the archeological sites in Louisiana, Illinois
and Ohio are sufficiently culturally distinct to merit separate World
Heritage listing.
DATES: Draft World Heritage nominations for ``Frank Lloyd Wright
Buildings'' and ``Poverty Point State Historic Site and National
Monument'' must be prepared and submitted in substantially complete
draft form to the National Park Service by July 1, 2012 in order for a
nomination to potentially be submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage
Centre by the United States by February 1, 2013. (The July 1, 2011 date
stated in the First Notice is no longer feasible given the time that
has elapsed since its publication.) 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 for technical review must be
[[Page 41519]]
made by September 30, 2012. The Centre is to provide comments by
November 15, 2012. The Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage
will review draft nominations following receipt of the Centre's
comments. 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 February 1, 2013, if the properties are to be considered in
the next 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 2014.
Protective measures must be in place before a property may be
nominated as provided for in 36 CFR 73.13. If a nomination cannot be
completed in accordance with this timeline, work may continue into the
following year(s) for subsequent submission to UNESCO.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Putnam, 202-354-1809 or April
Brooks, 202-354-1808. For complete information about U.S. participation
in the World Heritage Program, please see the National Park Service
Office of International Affairs' Web site at: http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm.
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].
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 1971, and the U.S. was the first nation to ratify
it. The United States served its fourth term on the World Heritage
Committee from 2005-2009. The Committee, composed of representatives of
21 nations periodically 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 911 sites in 151 of the 187 signatory countries.
Currently there are 21 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 Part 73--World Heritage Convention. The National
Park Service serves as the principal technical agency for World
Heritage in the Department of the Interior, which has the lead role for
the U.S. Government in the implementation of the Convention and manages
all or parts of 17 of the 21 U.S. World Heritage Sites, including
Yellowstone National Park, the Everglades, 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 only 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.
NPS prepared and submitted (through the Secretary of the Interior
and the Secretary of State) to the World Heritage Centre of UNESCO on
January 24, 2008, an updated Tentative List. The Tentative List was
published in the Federal Register on March 19, 2008. The process for
developing the U.S. Tentative List is detailed on the NPS Office of
International Affairs Web site at: http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm.
Summary of other Public Comments: On December 14, 2010, the
Department published a request for comments in the Federal Register
(Volume 75, Number 239, pages 77901-77903), on which of the sites on
the Tentative List should be nominated next by the United States.
Comments were accepted through January 13, 2011, thirty days from 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 comments received appears below organized by site,
along with the Department's responses as appropriate. Comments on the
two sites that are proposed for nomination appear in the discussion of
the decision. The Department received 172 comments and an Internet
petition with 830 signatures. The comments were also available to the
Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage and to the Department of
the Interior officials who have selected the properties that are asked
to prepare nominations. The full texts of all the comments are
available upon request.
Comments were also sought on potential additions to the Tentative
List. These comments are on file to be considered by the Federal
Interagency Panel and the Department of the Interior in due course.
Cultural Sites
Civil Rights Movement Sites, Alabama: Dexter Ave. King Memorial Baptist
Church, Montgomery; Bethel Baptist Church, Birmingham; 16th St. Baptist
Church, Birmingham
The Department received seven comments: Three expressed general
support and four recommended that a variety of additional sites be
added to the grouping to more comprehensively represent the topic.
The Department agrees that additional sites will need to be added
before this proposal could be considered for nomination.
Dayton Aviation Sites, Ohio: Wright Cycle Company and Wright & Wright
Printing; Huffman Prairie Flying Field; Wright Hall; Hawthorn Hill
The Department received 14 comments: Four expressed general
support. The other 10 recommended that Wright Brothers National
Memorial in Kitty Hawk, NC be added to the group; two of these
commenters also questioned whether Hawthorn Hill should be included in
the group, and one also questioned the inclusion of the Wright Cycle
Company Building.
The Department acknowledges that some of the components of this
proposal
[[Page 41520]]
may have difficulties in meeting the technical requirements of the
World Heritage Committee, and that such issues would have to be
resolved before a nomination could be made. The Wright Brothers
National Memorial was nominated unsuccessfully in 1981 by the United
States, and the Department believes that the issues raised at that time
may still affect a potential nomination.
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, Ohio: Fort Ancient State Memorial;
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park; Newark Earthworks State
Memorial
The Department received 95 comments: 71 of them, plus the Internet
petition with 830 signatures, expressed general support, and four
provided more substantive expressions of support, including information
from Federal and State site owners and stewards on work that has begun
to document the properties and engage in public outreach, including a
planned symposium. Eleven specifically recommended that the group of
sites be expanded to include Serpent Mound State Memorial in Ohio,
which is included as a separate site for nomination on the Tentative
List. Three recommended that all these sites be combined with Poverty
Point, the other archeological site on the Tentative List; one of these
suggested that the grouping be an extension to the Cahokia Mounds World
Heritage Site in Illinois. One noted concern over the management
organization and the sufficiency of preservation of the State-owned
components. Two objected to ``Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks'' as the
proposed name. The Department believes that the archeological sites in
Louisiana, Illinois and Ohio are sufficiently culturally distinct to
merit separate World Heritage listing. It has considered the
justifications proposed for adding Serpent Mound to the Hopewell
grouping.
At this time, it believes that the original formulation would still
be the most strongly justifiable. If the Ohio properties were to be
combined, a different justification for Outstanding Universal Value and
a revision of the World Heritage criteria proposed to be met would have
to be developed and agreed upon; such an effort, even if deemed viable,
would require additional time and consultation.
Thomas Jefferson Buildings, Virginia: Poplar Forest, Bedford County;
State Capitol, Richmond
The Department received seven comments. Two expressed general
support. One supported the proposal to extend the existing World
Heritage listing of Monticello and the University of Virginia as an
elaboration of the Jeffersonian architectural idea; three of the others
indicated that Poplar Forest was a weaker component and should be
reconsidered, and one of these also said that alterations to the State
Capitol must be addressed carefully. Two comments said that other
properties on the Tentative List should have priority over an extension
to an existing listing.
The Department acknowledges that the issue raised in these comments
will need to be considered.
Mount Vernon, Virginia
The Department received four comments. One expressed general
support. The others made various suggestions for how this site, which
was unsuccessfully nominated in 2009, might be reformulated for
possible nomination again in the future.
San Antonio Franciscan Missions, Texas: San Antonio Missions National
Historical Park and the Alamo (Mission San Antonio)
The Department received 43 comments: 32 expressed general support;
this included numerous elected officials. Six comments provided more
substantive expressions of support, including information from Federal
and State site owners, the Archbishop of San Antonio and others on work
that has begun to prepare a nomination and on ongoing research and
conservation of the sites. The Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation suggested
that it might best be nominated as an extension to the Mexican World
Heritage site of the Franciscan Missions of the Sierra Gorda de
Queretaro. The U.S. chapter of the International Council on Monuments
and Sites cited some potential weaknesses in the proposal that would
need to be addressed. One commenter stated that it should be nominated
at this time, although more justification as to how it fills a gap in
the World Heritage List is needed; the writer suggested that the
agricultural and cultural landscape aspects were most significant,
while the architecture is not exceptional in a global context. Another
comment suggested that the context needs to address the whole subject
of Spanish colonial missions in the Americas; that the core and buffer
zones will be challenging to delineate; and that the acequia system
should be highlighted.
The Department believes that the range of comments accurately
reflects a number of issues that will need to be addressed in a future
nomination.
Serpent Mound State Memorial, Ohio
The Department received 67 comments: 53 expressed general support.
The Executive Director of the Ohio Historical Society wrote as the
owner of the site that he recommended combining the site with the
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks; nine other comments made a similar
suggestion. Richard D. Shiels, Director of the Newark Earthworks Center
of the Ohio State University and E. Gordon Gee, President of the
University, cited public interpretive and outreach work and research
related to the site, including a planned symposium. Two comments
recommended that the site be combined with both the Hopewell Ceremonial
Earthworks and with Poverty Point in Louisiana; one of these suggested
that the grouping be an extension to the Cahokia Mounds World Heritage
Site in Illinois.
The Department believes that the archeological sites in Louisiana,
Illinois and Ohio are sufficiently culturally distinct to merit
separate World Heritage listing. It has considered the justifications
proposed for adding Serpent Mound to the Hopewell grouping. At this
time, it believes that the original formulation would still be the most
strongly justifiable. There is insufficient evidence to link Serpent
Mound to the Hopewell culture sites, including conflicting evidence for
its construction date. Serpent Mound has a more distinctive identity as
an effigy mound.
If the Ohio properties were to be combined, a different
justification for Outstanding Universal Value and a revision of the
World Heritage criteria proposed to be met would have to be developed
and agreed upon; such an effort, even if deemed viable, would require
additional time and consultation.
Natural Sites
Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary
The Department received four comments: three expressed general
support. The Marine Conservation Biology Institute recommended the
nomination of the Marine Sanctuary to the World Heritage List.
The Department believes that Fagatele Bay would be more likely to
receive international support were it nominated as a part of a
significantly larger nomination, including other areas in American
Samoa and perhaps elsewhere in the Pacific.
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
The Department received one comment, expressing general support.
[[Page 41521]]
Petrified Forest National Park
The Department received five comments; four expressed general
support. Another noted that the site continues to have problems with
theft of park resources.
White Sands National Monument
The Department received five comments: four expressed general
support. Another made specific recommendations for edits and additions
to the site's Tentative List application.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 470 a-1, a-2, d; 36 CFR Part 73.
Dated: July 7, 2011.
Rachel Jacobson,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2011-17769 Filed 7-13-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P