Louisiana's Poverty Point State Historic Site to be Nominated as a World Heritage Site

Edited Jan 18, 2013 to correct a quote.
Edited Jan. 18, 2013 to add Lt. Governor Dardenne's comment.

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the United States is nominating Poverty Point State Historic Site and National Monument in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana, for inclusion on the World Heritage List. The nomination document was prepared by the State of Louisiana in consultation with the National Park Service's Office of International Affairs. The nomination has been submitted through the U.S. Department of State to the offices of the World Heritage Centre in Paris, France.

If approved by the World Heritage Committee, the prehistoric earthworks would join the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, Stonehenge, the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef on the list of 962 sites in 157 countries designated as the most significant cultural and natural sites on the planet.

“Tucked into the bayous of Louisiana, the Poverty Point earthworks are the remarkable legacy of a prehistoric hunter-gatherer society that existed thousands of years ago,” Salazar said. “Designation as a World Heritage Site not only would be an honor for both Louisiana and the United States but also would be an invitation to domestic and international travelers, helping to accomplish the goals of President Obama's National Travel and Tourism Strategy to generate jobs through increased tourism.”

“We thank the State Department and the State of Louisiana for their partnership on the nomination of Poverty Point to be a World Heritage Site,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Rachel Jacobson. “Poverty Point is a significant cultural site that is certainly deserving of recognition on the world stage.”

“Designation as a World Heritage Site is how the international community shines a light on the places that should be special to all of us,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “This nomination of Poverty Point earthwork is an important way to share what we value as a people, the places that define our society.”

“We are thrilled that Poverty Point is being nominated by the National Park Service to be added to the prestigious list of World Heritage Sites,” Lt. Governor Dardenne said. “Before there was a Great Wall of China there was Poverty Point which offers visitors a unique look into America's earliest civilization telling the story of a complex society living off Louisiana's fertile land. We are hopeful that this nomination not only will attract visitors from across the globe but also will create jobs and spur the economy of northeast Louisiana.”

Located in northeastern Louisiana on a bayou of the Mississippi, Poverty Point is a vast, integrated complex of earthen monuments, constructed 3,100 – 3,700 years ago. It consists of six enormous, concentric earthen ridges with an outer diameter of more than a half mile, and several large mounds, including one of the largest in North America.

This constructed landscape was the largest and most elaborate of its time on the continent; the particular form of the complex is not duplicated anywhere else in the world. The site is especially notable because it was built by a settlement of hunter-gatherers, not an agricultural society.

The UNESCO World Heritage List is part of the World Heritage Convention, an international treaty signed by 190 countries for natural site conservation and cultural site preservation first proposed by the United States government in 1972.

After reviews by World Heritage Centre staff and by the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), it will be considered for inscription on the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee, which is a rotating body of 21 nations elected from among the signatories of the World Heritage Convention.

Inscription as a World Heritage Site does not impose any legal restrictions on property 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 existing federal and local laws. The agreement of the property owner is required by U.S. law in order for a site in this country to be nominated to the World Heritage List.

Two other potential nominations of U.S. sites are now in development: the San Antonio Franciscan Missions in Texas, and eleven buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright located throughout the U.S.

More information on the World Heritage Program can be found at http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm and http://whc.unesco.org.

The 21 current World Heritage Sites in the U.S, with the year of their inscription, are:

ALASKA
Wrangell-St. Elias and Glacier Bay National Parks and Preserves, with Kluane and Tatshenshini-Alsek National Parks and Reserve in Canada (1979)

ARIZONA
Grand Canyon National Park (1979)

CALIFORNIA
Redwoods State and National Parks (1980)
Yosemite National Park (1984)

COLORADO
Mesa Verde National Park (1978)

FLORIDA
Everglades National Park (1979)

HAWAII
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (1987)
Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (2010)

ILLINOIS
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (1982)

KENTUCKY
Mammoth Cave National Park (1991)

MONTANA
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, jointly with Canada (1995)

NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY
Statue of Liberty National Monument (1984)

NEW MEXICO
Carlsbad Caverns National Park (1995)
Chaco Culture National Historical Park (1987)
Taos Pueblo (1992)

NORTH CAROLINA / TENNESSEE
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (1983)

PENNSYLVANIA
Independence Hall, part of Independence National Historical Park (1979)

VIRGINIA
Monticello and the University of Virginia (1987)

WASHINGTON
Olympic National Park (1981)

WYOMING / MONTANA / IDAHO
Yellowstone National Park (1978)

PUERTO RICO
La Fortaleza-San Juan National Historical Site (1983)

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