U.S. Nominations to the World Heritage List: San Antonio Franciscan Missions, 38078-38081 [2012-15586]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 123 / Tuesday, June 26, 2012 / Notices
Memorial Parkway, Turkey Run Park,
McLean, Virginia 22101, at (703) 289–
2500.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NPS
is preparing an EIS to identify a
preferred site for construction of an
environmentally sustainable facility for
non-motorized boats on the Virginia
shoreline of the Potomac River.
Scoping for the EIS will consider four
possible site locations within George
Washington Memorial Parkway. Two
proposed sites are downstream of the
Key Bridge, one proposed site is near
Gravelly Point and the 14th Street
Bridge, and one proposed site is on
Daingerfield Island. The boathouse
facility and its amenities would enhance
public waterfront access in the vicinity
of Arlington County for non-motorized
recreational activities.
This project was initiated when, at the
direction of Congress, the NPS prepared
a site analysis (feasibility study) for a
boathouse facility in 2002. The purpose
of the study was to eliminate any sites
that were not feasible due to engineering
or financial constraints and to use that
information for the preparation of an
EIS. On May 21, 2004, an NOI to
prepare that EIS was published in the
Federal Register. In 2004, the NPS held
a public scoping meeting and
preliminary surveys which were
completed.
With the participation of Arlington
County as a cooperating agency, internal
scoping was reinitiated in 2011, and the
NPS has determined that an EIS remains
the most appropriate level of
environmental documentation for the
proposed project. NPS is issuing this
NOI so that the public has a clear
understanding of the agency’s intention
to complete preparation of this EIS.
Public Involvement: Public
involvement will be a key component in
preparation of the EIS. Interested
individuals, organizations, and agencies
are encouraged to provide written
comments or suggestions to assist the
NPS in determining the scope of issues
to be addressed in the EIS, to identify
significant issues related to the project,
and to identify other reasonable
alternatives.
The NPS will conduct a public
scoping meeting at a public site in
Arlington County. When the public
scoping meeting has been scheduled, its
location, date and time will be
announced through local media and
published on the NPS’s PEPC Web site:
https://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/
gwmp no later than 15 days in advance
of the date of the meeting.
If you wish to submit issues or
provide input on this initial phase of
developing the EIS, you may submit
comments by [INSERT DATE 60 DAYS
FROM THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE]
through the PEPC Web site at https://
www.parkplanning.nps.gov/gwmp, by
hand-delivery or mail to:
Superintendent, George Washington
Memorial Parkway, Turkey Run Park,
McLean, Virginia 22101, or by providing
comments to NPS staff at the scoping
meeting.
We will make all submissions from
organizations or business, and from
individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, available
for public inspection in their entirety.
Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your
comment, be advised that your entire
comment—including your personal
identifying information—may be made
publicly available at any time. While
you can ask in your comments to
withhold from public review your
personal identifying information, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Dated: March 5, 2012.
Stephen E. Whitesell,
Regional Director, National Capital Region.
[FR Doc. 2012–15581 Filed 6–25–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–DL–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS–WASO–CONC–10245; 2410–OYC]
Notice of Extension of Concession
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National Park Service, Interior.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Pursuant to the terms of the
listed concession contract, the National
Park Service hereby gives public notice
that it intends to extend the concession
contract listed below for a period not-toexceed 14 months from the date of
contract expiration.
DATES: Effective Date: November 1,
2013.
SUMMARY:
The
contract listed below will expire by its
terms on October 31, 2013. Pursuant to
36 CFR 51.23, the National Park Service
has determined that the proposed shortterm extension is necessary to avoid
interruption of visitor services and has
taken all reasonable and appropriate
steps to consider alternatives to avoid
such interruption.
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Conc ID No.
Concessioner name
Park
SEKI004–98 .........................................
Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts at Sequoia, Inc .....................
Sequoia National Park.
Jo
A. Pendry, Chief, Commercial Services
Program, National Park Service, 1201
Eye Street NW., 11th Floor, Washington,
DC 20005, Telephone (202) 513–7156.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Dated: May 1, 2012.
Lena McDowall,
Associate Director, Business Services.
U.S. Nominations to the World Heritage
List: San Antonio Franciscan Missions
[FR Doc. 2012–15534 Filed 6–25–12; 8:45 am]
ACTION:
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
National Park Service
[NPS–OIA–WASO–10326:0050–673]
National Park Service, Interior.
Second Notice.
AGENCY:
BILLING CODE 4310–53–P
This notice announces the
decision to request that a draft
nomination of the San Antonio
Franciscan Missions for inclusion on
the World Heritage List be prepared.
The decision is the result of review of
SUMMARY:
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public comments submitted in response
to an earlier notice and of consultation
with the Federal Interagency Panel for
World Heritage. The notice also
summarizes the National Park Service’s
evaluation of public comments on other
candidates for nomination to the World
Heritage List.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jonathan Putnam, 202–354–1809 or
April Brooks, 202–354–1808. To request
paper copies of documents discussed in
this notice, contact April Brooks, Office
of International Affairs, NPS, 1201 Eye
Street NW., (0050) Washington, DC
20005. Email: april_brooks@nps.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 123 / Tuesday, June 26, 2012 / Notices
What is the World Heritage List?
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 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 936 sites in 153 of the 189
signatory countries. Currently there are
21 World Heritage Sites in the United
States. U.S. participation and the roles
of the Department and the National Park
Service (NPS) are authorized by Title IV
of the Historic Preservation Act
Amendments of 1980 and conducted in
accordance with 36 CFR 73—World
Heritage Convention. NPS serves as the
principal technical agency for World
Heritage in the Department, 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.
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What is the tentative list?
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. If two sites are
nominated, at least one must be a
natural site or a cultural landscape.
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
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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.
How the Nomination Process Works
NPS regulations at 36 CFR part 73
establish the process for making
nominations to the World Heritage List.
This process ensures that the Congress,
property owners, and the public are
notified of and can comment on
proposed nominations. Under the
process, the Department notifies the
public as follows:
• The Department publishes a first
notice in the Federal Register
containing the tentative list and asks for
recommendations regarding which
properties on it should be nominated.
• The Department reviews comments
received as a result of the notice,
consults with the Federal Interagency
Panel on World Heritage and decides
which properties should be nominated
next.
• The Department publishes a second
notice containing the list of proposed
nominations.
This is the second notice as required
by 36 CFR 73.7(f) on the proposed
nomination of the San Antonio
Franciscan Missions.
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:
https://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/
worldheritage/worldheritage.htm.
First Notice Published on March 5,
2012
On March 5, 2012, the Department
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, as
required by 36 CFR 73.7(c). The
tentative list consists of properties that
appear to qualify for World Heritage
status and that 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.
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In the notice published on March 5,
2012, the Department requested
comment on which properties on the
U.S. World Heritage tentative list should
be nominated to the World Heritage
List. After reviewing public comments
and consulting with the Federal
Interagency Panel for World Heritage,
the Department has selected the San
Antonio Franciscan Missions as a
proposed nomination to the World
Heritage List. With the assistance of the
Department, the owners of this group of
sites are encouraged to prepare a
complete nomination document in
accordance with 36 CFR Part 73 and the
nomination format required by the
World Heritage Committee.
Two other properties, ‘‘Frank Lloyd
Wright Buildings’’ and ‘‘Poverty Point
State Historic Site and National
Monument,’’ were selected to prepare
nominations in 2011, and these
documents are currently being drafted.
The Panel also considered comments
on possible additions to the tentative
list. The Department, on advice of the
Panel, will work with the U.S. National
Commission for UNESCO (the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization) to develop a
process to revise the tentative list by
2016.
A discussion of the decisions, the
nomination process and schedule, a
summary of the comments received, and
a description of the properties
comprising the Missions group follows.
Recommendations of the Federal
Interagency Panel for World Heritage
The Federal Interagency Panel for
World Heritage assists the Department
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 on
the next U.S. World Heritage
nomination at a meeting on May 1,
2012.
The Panel agreed by consensus to
support the preparation of a nomination
at this time for the San Antonio
Franciscan Missions. The Panel
reviewed the progress of the two
nominations already under preparation
and the public suggestions for
nominations for other properties at this
time from the U.S. World Heritage
tentative list. They did not recommend
the preparation of nominations for any
additional or alternate properties,
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although they acknowledged the
substantial effort underway to prepare
for a nomination of the ‘‘Hopewell
Ceremonial Earthworks’’ in Ohio. Panel
members emphasized the considerable
work and cost involved in developing
nomination documents, and wanted to
ensure that the number of nominations
under development will not exceed the
Department’s capacity to ensure the
high quality that will give them the best
possible chance of success when
considered by the World Heritage
Committee.
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Decision To Request the Preparation of
a New U.S. World Heritage Nomination
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 a new U.S. World
Heritage nomination.
A brief description is provided for
this potential nomination along with a
summary of the comments that were
received and considered as part of this
process. The Department will decide
whether to nominate this group of sites
to the World Heritage List based on a
complete draft World Heritage
nomination, when it is available. A draft
World Heritage nomination is requested
of the owners for the following sites:
San Antonio Franciscan Missions:
• Mission San Antonio (The Alamo)
´
• Mission Concepcion
´
• Mission San Jose
• Mission San Juan
• Mission Espada
The modern city of San Antonio,
Texas, has grown up around this group
of five Spanish Roman Catholic mission
complexes that were built in stages from
1724 to 1782 as open villages within
walled compounds. This unusual
grouping of missions is a uniquely
complete illustration of the experience
of the Franciscan missionaries and their
interaction with the indigenous peoples
on the northern frontier of the Spanish
American empire in the 18th century.
The religious, economic, and
technological systems of the
missionaries created settled
communities that became the basis of
the U.S. Southwest’s distinctive ethnic
mixture. The churches in the mission
complexes, except for Mission San
Antonio, are still in active use.
The Department received a large
number of comments on this proposal,
including over 15,000 expressions of
support in response to an appeal by the
National Parks Conservation
Association. Specific comments by
organizations and individuals involved
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in the nomination effort cited a broad
range of civic support, including
funding and other resources from both
governmental and private sources. One
comment recommended that the group
should be considered as an extension to
the Mexican missions of the Sierra
Gorda already on the World Heritage
List, and another said that the
justification for World Heritage listing
needs to address the context of Spanish
missions in the Americas, and that it
will be important to define the
boundary carefully to support the
group’s integrity; also that the system of
acequias may merit nomination on their
own. The Panel also discussed concerns
and questions about the nature and
appropriateness of reconstruction work
that was done at the missions in the
1930s.
The Department notes that a recent
meeting of experts in the topic in San
Antonio, including Mexican World
Heritage officials, concluded that the
justification for the San Antonio
missions would be sufficiently different
from that of the Mexican listing that
they should be nominated separately.
Regarding the justification and other
related issues, the Department is
committed to working closely with
those preparing the nomination to
ensure that these issues, as well as the
questions regarding the 1930s
reconstruction work, will be
appropriately addressed.
Decision To Study Revisions to the U.S.
World Heritage Tentative List
Over the past two years, both during
official public comment periods and
otherwise, approximately 100
suggestions for potential additions to
the tentative list have been made to the
Department. A number of suggestions
have also been made regarding the
methodology of selecting properties for
the tentative list. The Operational
Guidelines of the World Heritage
Committee recommend that countries
update their tentative lists
approximately once every 10 years. The
current U.S. tentative list was
established in 2008.
The Department, on advice of the
Panel, will initiate a process in
cooperation with the U.S. National
Commission for UNESCO, a commission
of the U.S. Department of State, to
develop an appropriate method to
update the U.S. tentative list with a
target of completing the update in 2016,
the year of the centennial of the
National Park Service.
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Next Steps in the Nomination of the
Franciscan Missions
A draft World Heritage nomination for
the ‘‘San Antonio Franciscan Missions’’
may now be prepared. If it is submitted
in substantially complete draft form to
the NPS by May 1, 2013, a nomination
may potentially be submitted to the
UNESCO World Heritage Centre by the
United States by February 1, 2014, if the
Department deems the nomination
ready. The World Heritage nomination
format may be found at the World
Heritage Centre Web site at https://whc.
unesco.org/en/guidelines. NPS will
coordinate the review and evaluation of
the draft nomination. Preliminary drafts
should be submitted to the NPS for
review prior to the complete draft
referred to above.
Following NPS review of the draft, the
Department may submit complete draft
nominations to the World Heritage
Centre for technical review by
September 30 of any year. The Centre
will then provide comments by
November 15 of that year. 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
for formal consideration for listing.
Final submittal to the World Heritage
Centre by the Department through the
Department of State is required by
February 1 of any year in order for the
properties 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
the following year.
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.
Comments on Other Sites Included in
the Notice of March 5, 2012
In the notice published on March 5,
2012 (77 FR 13147–13149), the
Department requested comments on
which of the sites on the tentative list
should be nominated next by the United
States. Comments were accepted
through March 19, 2012, fifteen days
from the date of publication of the
notice in the Federal Register.
Respondents were asked to address the
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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 site that
is now authorized to prepare a
nomination appear in the discussion of
the decision above. The Department
received 37 comments in addition to
over 15,000 responses to an appeal from
the National Parks Conservation
Association to support the San Antonio
Franciscan Missions. 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 in due
course.
Comments on Cultural Sites Included in
the March 5 Notice
Civil Rights Movement Sites,
Alabama. Dexter Ave. King Memorial
Baptist Church, Montgomery; Bethel
Baptist Church, Birmingham; 16th St.
Baptist Church, Birmingham:
The Department received two
comments. Both recommended that a
variety of additional sites be added to
the grouping to more comprehensively
represent the topic, and one of them
recommended that the Department
undertake this work and nominate the
sites in 2013.
The Department agrees that additional
sites will need to be added before this
proposal could be considered for
nomination, and plans to explore such
an effort with the assistance of the U.S.
National Commission for UNESCO. The
Panel also noted that it would be
necessary to justify another World
Heritage criterion in addition to the
tentatively identified criterion (vi), for
association with ideas and events,
which the World Heritage Committee no
longer accepts as a sole criterion.
Dayton Aviation Sites, Ohio: Wright
Cycle Company and Wright & Wright
Printing; Huffman Prairie Flying Field;
Wright Hall; Hawthorn Hill. The
Department received three comments:
one expressed general support. The
others recommended that the Wright
Brothers National Memorial at Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina be added. One
also suggested inclusion of the original
Wright Flyer also be included and that
Hawthorne Hill’s inclusion should be
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reconsidered; the other suggested
consideration of a transnational serial
nomination with other countries of early
flight resources.
The Department acknowledges that
some of the components of this proposal
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 10
comments: three expressed general
support, and five, including from the
organizations that own the sites,
provided more specific information on
the ability of the sites to satisfy the
World Heritage criteria and of the
proponents to prepare a nomination.
These include a workshop held at the
sites in November 2011, which
discussed how to address the criteria
and issues of integrity and authenticity,
and concluded that they would not
attempt to include Serpent Mound in
the proposal.
Follow-up actions from the workshop
have included establishment of a
‘‘Friends of the Ohio Earthworks’’
organization, which is raising funds and
hiring a consultant to work on the
nomination. Tribal government support
was also cited. The other two comments
recommended that this type of site is
adequately represented already, and
should not be nominated at this time, or
should be proposed as an extension to
Cahokia Mounds, along with Serpent
Mound and Poverty Point.
The Department acknowledges the
substantial work being done by the
committee in Ohio, and believes that
this group of sites has good prospects
for nomination. Regarding the other
comments, the Department notes that
Poverty Point has already been
authorized to prepare a separate
nomination, and has determined that
the archeological sites in Louisiana,
Illinois and Ohio are sufficiently
culturally distinct to merit separate
World Heritage listing.
Thomas Jefferson Buildings, Virginia:
Poplar Forest, Bedford County; State
Capitol, Richmond: The Department
received two comments. One stated that
this would be the most straightforward
nomination from the properties now on
the tentative list, and would complete
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the Jefferson theme. The other
recommended against the extension of a
property already listed as a priority for
nomination, and noted that Poplar
Forest may not add greatly to the listing.
The Department acknowledges that the
issue raised in the latter comment will
need to be considered.
Mount Vernon, Virginia. The
Department received two comments
with various suggestions for how this
site, which was unsuccessfully
nominated in 2009, might be
reformulated for possible nomination
again in the future.
Serpent Mound State Memorial, Ohio.
The Department received three
comments: one expressed general
support. The other two recommended
that this type of site is adequately
represented already, and should not be
nominated at this time, or should be
proposed as an extension to Cahokia
Mounds, along with Hopewell
Ceremonial Culture and Poverty Point.
The Department notes that Poverty
Point has already been authorized to
prepare a separate nomination; and has
determined that the archeological sites
in Louisiana, Illinois and Ohio are
sufficiently culturally distinct to merit
separate World Heritage listing.
Natural Sites
No comments were received on these
four sites:
• Fagatele Bay National Marine
Sanctuary
• Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
• Petrified Forest National Park
• White Sands National Monument
Before including your address, phone
number, email 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.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 470 a–1, a–2, d; 36
CFR 73.
Dated: June 4, 2012.
Rachel Jacobson,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and
Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2012–15586 Filed 6–25–12; 8:45 am]
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38078-38081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15586]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-OIA-WASO-10326:0050-673]
U.S. Nominations to the World Heritage List: San Antonio
Franciscan Missions
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Second Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces the decision to request that a draft
nomination of the San Antonio Franciscan Missions for inclusion on the
World Heritage List be prepared. The decision is the result of review
of public comments submitted in response to an earlier notice and of
consultation with the Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage. The
notice also summarizes the National Park Service's evaluation of public
comments on other candidates for nomination to the World Heritage List.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Putnam, 202-354-1809 or April
Brooks, 202-354-1808. To request paper copies of documents discussed in
this notice, contact April Brooks, Office of International Affairs,
NPS, 1201 Eye Street NW., (0050) Washington, DC 20005. Email: april_brooks@nps.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 38079]]
What is the World Heritage List?
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 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 936 sites in 153 of the 189 signatory countries.
Currently there are 21 World Heritage Sites in the United States. U.S.
participation and the roles of the Department and the National Park
Service (NPS) are authorized by Title IV of the Historic Preservation
Act Amendments of 1980 and conducted in accordance with 36 CFR 73--
World Heritage Convention. NPS serves as the principal technical agency
for World Heritage in the Department, 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.
What is the tentative list?
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. If two sites are nominated, at least one must
be a natural site or a cultural landscape.
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.
How the Nomination Process Works
NPS regulations at 36 CFR part 73 establish the process for making
nominations to the World Heritage List. This process ensures that the
Congress, property owners, and the public are notified of and can
comment on proposed nominations. Under the process, the Department
notifies the public as follows:
The Department publishes a first notice in the Federal
Register containing the tentative list and asks for recommendations
regarding which properties on it should be nominated.
The Department reviews comments received as a result of
the notice, consults with the Federal Interagency Panel on World
Heritage and decides which properties should be nominated next.
The Department publishes a second notice containing the
list of proposed nominations.
This is the second notice as required by 36 CFR 73.7(f) on the
proposed nomination of the San Antonio Franciscan Missions.
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: https://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm.
First Notice Published on March 5, 2012
On March 5, 2012, the Department 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, as required by 36 CFR
73.7(c). The tentative list consists of properties that appear to
qualify for World Heritage status and that 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.
In the notice published on March 5, 2012, the Department requested
comment on which properties on the U.S. World Heritage tentative list
should be nominated to the World Heritage List. After reviewing public
comments and consulting with the Federal Interagency Panel for World
Heritage, the Department has selected the San Antonio Franciscan
Missions as a proposed nomination to the World Heritage List. With the
assistance of the Department, the owners of this group of sites are
encouraged to prepare a complete nomination document in accordance with
36 CFR Part 73 and the nomination format required by the World Heritage
Committee.
Two other properties, ``Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings'' and
``Poverty Point State Historic Site and National Monument,'' were
selected to prepare nominations in 2011, and these documents are
currently being drafted.
The Panel also considered comments on possible additions to the
tentative list. The Department, on advice of the Panel, will work with
the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO (the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to develop a process
to revise the tentative list by 2016.
A discussion of the decisions, the nomination process and schedule,
a summary of the comments received, and a description of the properties
comprising the Missions group follows.
Recommendations of the Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage
The Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage assists the
Department 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 on the next U.S. World
Heritage nomination at a meeting on May 1, 2012.
The Panel agreed by consensus to support the preparation of a
nomination at this time for the San Antonio Franciscan Missions. The
Panel reviewed the progress of the two nominations already under
preparation and the public suggestions for nominations for other
properties at this time from the U.S. World Heritage tentative list.
They did not recommend the preparation of nominations for any
additional or alternate properties,
[[Page 38080]]
although they acknowledged the substantial effort underway to prepare
for a nomination of the ``Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks'' in Ohio.
Panel members emphasized the considerable work and cost involved in
developing nomination documents, and wanted to ensure that the number
of nominations under development will not exceed the Department's
capacity to ensure the high quality that will give them the best
possible chance of success when considered by the World Heritage
Committee.
Decision To Request the Preparation of a New U.S. World Heritage
Nomination
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 a new U.S. World
Heritage nomination.
A brief description is provided for this potential nomination along
with a summary of the comments that were received and considered as
part of this process. The Department will decide whether to nominate
this group of sites to the World Heritage List based on a complete
draft World Heritage nomination, when it is available. A draft World
Heritage nomination is requested of the owners for the following sites:
San Antonio Franciscan Missions:
Mission San Antonio (The Alamo)
Mission Concepci[oacute]n
Mission San Jos[eacute]
Mission San Juan
Mission Espada
The modern city of San Antonio, Texas, has grown up around this
group of five Spanish Roman Catholic mission complexes that were built
in stages from 1724 to 1782 as open villages within walled compounds.
This unusual grouping of missions is a uniquely complete illustration
of the experience of the Franciscan missionaries and their interaction
with the indigenous peoples on the northern frontier of the Spanish
American empire in the 18th century. The religious, economic, and
technological systems of the missionaries created settled communities
that became the basis of the U.S. Southwest's distinctive ethnic
mixture. The churches in the mission complexes, except for Mission San
Antonio, are still in active use.
The Department received a large number of comments on this
proposal, including over 15,000 expressions of support in response to
an appeal by the National Parks Conservation Association. Specific
comments by organizations and individuals involved in the nomination
effort cited a broad range of civic support, including funding and
other resources from both governmental and private sources. One comment
recommended that the group should be considered as an extension to the
Mexican missions of the Sierra Gorda already on the World Heritage
List, and another said that the justification for World Heritage
listing needs to address the context of Spanish missions in the
Americas, and that it will be important to define the boundary
carefully to support the group's integrity; also that the system of
acequias may merit nomination on their own. The Panel also discussed
concerns and questions about the nature and appropriateness of
reconstruction work that was done at the missions in the 1930s.
The Department notes that a recent meeting of experts in the topic
in San Antonio, including Mexican World Heritage officials, concluded
that the justification for the San Antonio missions would be
sufficiently different from that of the Mexican listing that they
should be nominated separately. Regarding the justification and other
related issues, the Department is committed to working closely with
those preparing the nomination to ensure that these issues, as well as
the questions regarding the 1930s reconstruction work, will be
appropriately addressed.
Decision To Study Revisions to the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List
Over the past two years, both during official public comment
periods and otherwise, approximately 100 suggestions for potential
additions to the tentative list have been made to the Department. A
number of suggestions have also been made regarding the methodology of
selecting properties for the tentative list. The Operational Guidelines
of the World Heritage Committee recommend that countries update their
tentative lists approximately once every 10 years. The current U.S.
tentative list was established in 2008.
The Department, on advice of the Panel, will initiate a process in
cooperation with the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, a commission
of the U.S. Department of State, to develop an appropriate method to
update the U.S. tentative list with a target of completing the update
in 2016, the year of the centennial of the National Park Service.
Next Steps in the Nomination of the Franciscan Missions
A draft World Heritage nomination for the ``San Antonio Franciscan
Missions'' may now be prepared. If it is submitted in substantially
complete draft form to the NPS by May 1, 2013, a nomination may
potentially be submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre by the
United States by February 1, 2014, if the Department deems the
nomination ready. The World Heritage nomination format may be found at
the World Heritage Centre Web site at https://whc.unesco.org/en/guidelines. NPS will coordinate the review and evaluation of the draft
nomination. Preliminary drafts should be submitted to the NPS for
review prior to the complete draft referred to above.
Following NPS review of the draft, the Department may submit
complete draft nominations to the World Heritage Centre for technical
review by September 30 of any year. The Centre will then provide
comments by November 15 of that year. 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 for formal
consideration for listing. Final submittal to the World Heritage Centre
by the Department through the Department of State is required by
February 1 of any year in order for the properties 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 the following year.
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.
Comments on Other Sites Included in the Notice of March 5, 2012
In the notice published on March 5, 2012 (77 FR 13147-13149), the
Department requested comments on which of the sites on the tentative
list should be nominated next by the United States. Comments were
accepted through March 19, 2012, fifteen days from the date of
publication of the notice in the Federal Register. Respondents were
asked to address the
[[Page 38081]]
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
site that is now authorized to prepare a nomination appear in the
discussion of the decision above. The Department received 37 comments
in addition to over 15,000 responses to an appeal from the National
Parks Conservation Association to support the San Antonio Franciscan
Missions. 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 in due course.
Comments on Cultural Sites Included in the March 5 Notice
Civil Rights Movement Sites, Alabama. Dexter Ave. King Memorial
Baptist Church, Montgomery; Bethel Baptist Church, Birmingham; 16th St.
Baptist Church, Birmingham:
The Department received two comments. Both recommended that a
variety of additional sites be added to the grouping to more
comprehensively represent the topic, and one of them recommended that
the Department undertake this work and nominate the sites in 2013.
The Department agrees that additional sites will need to be added
before this proposal could be considered for nomination, and plans to
explore such an effort with the assistance of the U.S. National
Commission for UNESCO. The Panel also noted that it would be necessary
to justify another World Heritage criterion in addition to the
tentatively identified criterion (vi), for association with ideas and
events, which the World Heritage Committee no longer accepts as a sole
criterion.
Dayton Aviation Sites, Ohio: Wright Cycle Company and Wright &
Wright Printing; Huffman Prairie Flying Field; Wright Hall; Hawthorn
Hill. The Department received three comments: one expressed general
support. The others recommended that the Wright Brothers National
Memorial at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina be added. One also suggested
inclusion of the original Wright Flyer also be included and that
Hawthorne Hill's inclusion should be reconsidered; the other suggested
consideration of a transnational serial nomination with other countries
of early flight resources.
The Department acknowledges that some of the components of this
proposal 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 10 comments: three expressed general
support, and five, including from the organizations that own the sites,
provided more specific information on the ability of the sites to
satisfy the World Heritage criteria and of the proponents to prepare a
nomination. These include a workshop held at the sites in November
2011, which discussed how to address the criteria and issues of
integrity and authenticity, and concluded that they would not attempt
to include Serpent Mound in the proposal.
Follow-up actions from the workshop have included establishment of
a ``Friends of the Ohio Earthworks'' organization, which is raising
funds and hiring a consultant to work on the nomination. Tribal
government support was also cited. The other two comments recommended
that this type of site is adequately represented already, and should
not be nominated at this time, or should be proposed as an extension to
Cahokia Mounds, along with Serpent Mound and Poverty Point.
The Department acknowledges the substantial work being done by the
committee in Ohio, and believes that this group of sites has good
prospects for nomination. Regarding the other comments, the Department
notes that Poverty Point has already been authorized to prepare a
separate nomination, and has determined that the archeological sites in
Louisiana, Illinois and Ohio are sufficiently culturally distinct to
merit separate World Heritage listing.
Thomas Jefferson Buildings, Virginia: Poplar Forest, Bedford
County; State Capitol, Richmond: The Department received two comments.
One stated that this would be the most straightforward nomination from
the properties now on the tentative list, and would complete the
Jefferson theme. The other recommended against the extension of a
property already listed as a priority for nomination, and noted that
Poplar Forest may not add greatly to the listing. The Department
acknowledges that the issue raised in the latter comment will need to
be considered.
Mount Vernon, Virginia. The Department received two comments with
various suggestions for how this site, which was unsuccessfully
nominated in 2009, might be reformulated for possible nomination again
in the future.
Serpent Mound State Memorial, Ohio. The Department received three
comments: one expressed general support. The other two recommended that
this type of site is adequately represented already, and should not be
nominated at this time, or should be proposed as an extension to
Cahokia Mounds, along with Hopewell Ceremonial Culture and Poverty
Point. The Department notes that Poverty Point has already been
authorized to prepare a separate nomination; and has determined that
the archeological sites in Louisiana, Illinois and Ohio are
sufficiently culturally distinct to merit separate World Heritage
listing.
Natural Sites
No comments were received on these four sites:
Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
Petrified Forest National Park
White Sands National Monument
Before including your address, phone number, email 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.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 470 a-1, a-2, d; 36 CFR 73.
Dated: June 4, 2012.
Rachel Jacobson,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2012-15586 Filed 6-25-12; 8:45 am]
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