Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced on January 22 his selection of 14 U.S. sites to be included on a new United States World Heritage Tentative List. The 14 properties on the new list will now be eligible to be considered for nomination by the United States to the UNESCO World Heritage List, which recognizes the most significant cultural and natural treasures on the planet.
"I am pleased to be able to take the necessary first step so that these truly significant American natural and cultural properties can be considered for the most prestigious international recognition accorded to properties of global importance,” Kempthorne said. “Each of these sites is important to Americans as well as others around the world.” 184 states have now ratified the World Heritage Convention, which is one of UNESCO's most visible and successful initiatives.
The United States was the first signatory of the 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which supports the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage worldwide that is considered to be of "outstanding universal value."
The U.S. was elected to the twenty-one member World Heritage Committee, the governing body of the World Heritage Convention, in October 2005 and will serve until October 2009. As a member of the World Heritage Committee, the U.S. Mission works with the World Heritage Center and other member states to maintain the quality of the World Heritage list by promoting effective conservation and management plans for World Heritage sites.
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