Haaland lauds designation of Indigenous earthworks in Ohio as US's newest WH site

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today applauded the decision by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to include on the World Heritage List Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, a group of eight ancient earthwork sites in southern Ohio. The World Heritage Committee made the decision to inscribe Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks on the highly selective World Heritage List by consensus at its 45th session in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on September 19, 2023. Five of the earthwork sites are managed by the National Park Service and three are managed by the Ohio History Connection.

“Today’s designation by UNESCO is a tremendous opportunity and recognition of the contributions of America’s Indigenous Peoples,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “World Heritage designation is an opportunity for the United States to share the whole story of America and the remarkable diversity of our cultural heritage as well as the beauty of our land. The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are unique creations of America’s indigenous people and a remarkable survival of our ancient history.”

https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/secretary-haaland-applauds-designation-of-ancient-earthworks-in-ohio-as-the-nation-s-25th-world-heritage-site.htm

13 cultural sites added to WH list, with one—in Palestine—bringing controversy with it

Unesco's World Heritage Committee has added more than a dozen ancient or unique sites to its World Heritage list. The new additions

to the list—which offers legal protection for sites deemed to be of “outstanding universal value”—are in countries including Iran, China, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan and the Palestinian territory of the West Bank.

The committee, which is made up of representatives from 21 member states, is meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for its 45th session. On Sunday 17 September, representatives agreed to include 13 new sites on its list; they also voted to extend the status of two others.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/09/18/unesco-adds-13-new-sites-to-world-heritage-list-as-riyadh-committee-session-enters-second-week

Court: Yosemite NP can continue cutting down trees to ease fire risk

The National Park Service can legally continue thinning trees and other vegetation in Yosemite to prepare for prescribed burning projects, a federal court of appeals ruled this week as it dismissed an environmental group’s challenges and upheld a previous ruling in favor of the park service.

Earth Island Institute, billed as an international nonprofit conservation group based in Berkeley, filed a lawsuit in June 2022 against Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon and the park service that temporarily halted biomass removal and thinning of trees in the park, efforts the institute and its representatives described as commercial logging.

https://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/article_c883c21a-5429-11ee-98f9-ef3e79e3dba7.html