PETRIFIED FOREST TAKES STEP TOWARD RECOGNITION AS WORLD TREASURE

With BC-CNS-UNESCO List-Box

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 (thumbnails, captions below)

By ERIC GRAF
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Wednesday, Oct. 31) _ Petrified Forest National Park and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West have taken a first step toward being recognized among the world’s most significant cultural and natural treasures.

The National Park Service has recommended that the northern Arizona park and Wright-designed buildings in Arizona and other states be included in a tentative list for consideration to join the UNESCO World Heritage List.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization already lists the Grand Canyon and 19 other U.S. sites among 851 treasures worldwide. Among the others: Yellowstone National Park, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Taj Mahal in India and Stonehenge in the United Kingdom.

Based on applications from around the country, the Park Service on Wednesday posted 35 sites on the Federal Register, providing 30 days for public comment. That begins a process that could take a decade.

Brad Traver, acting superintendent at Petrified Forest National Park, said getting on the worldwide list would give the park the recognition it deserves.

“We think this park has world-class resources,” he said. “They are unique in the United States.”

The designation could also help boost interest in the Petrified Forest, said Bill Parker, a paleontologist at the park.

“This would raise our visibility with international travelers,” he said. “Also, it would raise our visibility to donors.”

Following the 30-day comment period, the Petrified Forest would be included on a new U.S. World Heritage Tentative List considered for formal nomination by the United States as a World Heritage Site.

Parker said it’s worth waiting for the recognition, as the Petrified Forest is home to some of the most unusual artifacts from the earth’s history.

“We have one of the largest, if not the largest, deposits of petrified wood in the world,” he said. “We have a diverse record of some of the earliest known dinosaurs.”

The Park Service also recommended Taliesin West, located in Scottsdale, for consideration after the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy in Chicago filed an application for a dozen of the famous architect’s buildings across the country.

Representatives from Taliesin West and the Conservancy didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.

Other notable sites on the National Park Service’s list: the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico and Civil Rights movement sites in Alabama.

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PHOTOS: Click thumbnails to see full-resolution images and download

UNESCO LIST-AZ

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-UNESCO LIST-AZ: A piece of fossilized wood stands lies near a visitor center at Petrified Forest National Park in northern Arizona. The National Park Service has recommended the Petrified Forest and Arizona buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for inclusion on a tentative list to be considered for the UNESCO World Heritage List of the world’s most significant natural and cultural places. The Grand Canyon is already on the list. The Grand Canyon is already on the list. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Sonu Munshi)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-UNESCO LIST-AZ: A piece of fossilized wood stands lies near a visitor center at Petrified Forest National Park in northern Arizona. The National Park Service has recommended the Petrified Forest and Arizona buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for inclusion on a tentative list to be considered for the UNESCO World Heritage List of the world’s most significant natural and cultural places. The Grand Canyon is already on the list. The Grand Canyon is already on the list. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Sonu Munshi)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-UNESCO LIST-AZ: The Grand Canyon is shown from Mohave Point on the South Rim in this undated photo. The National Park Service has recommended adding the Petrified Forest and Arizona homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List of the world’s most significant natural and cultural places, which already includes the Grand Canyon. (Credit: National Park Service via Cronkite News Service)