Is it possible that the Erie Canal could be declared a World Heritage site?  I really don’t know.  But, the fact that I don’t know doesn’t mean the effort should not be made.  The story of the Erie Canal is a story of North America.  It is a story of population migration;  high tech engineering and construction at a time when High Tech Engineers and Construction skills were not available in this country;  immigrants seeking a new life;  Native Americans finding a place in a world that had been turned upside down for them; and big dreams for the future.

People I’ve talked to like the idea and have pretty much been unanimous in their assessment “YOU should follow up on this.”  The YOU word makes me cringe.  It means either one of two things – 1) they don’t agree with you and won’t get involved or 2 ) they agree with you and won’t get involved.  Even though it might require just sending an email to the governor and/or federal representative to say, “Please seek World Heritage recognition for the Erie Canal by UNESCO.”

Nominating process

A country must first take an inventory of its significant cultural and natural properties. This is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate properties that have not already been included on the Tentative List. Next, it can select a property from this list to place into a Nomination File.

At this point, the file is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union. These bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. The Committee meets once per year to determine whether or not to inscribe each nominated property on the World Heritage List, and sometimes defers the decision to request more information from the country who nominated the site. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list.

Selection Criteria:

Until the end of 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so that there is only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of “outstanding universal value” and meet at least one of the ten criteria.

Cultural criteria

• (i) “represents a masterpiece of human creative genius”
• (ii) “exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time, or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning, or landscape design”
• (iii) “bears a unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared”
• (iv) “is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural, or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history”
• (v) “is an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture, or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change”
• (vi) “is directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance”

Natural criteria

• (vii) “contains superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance”
• (viii) “is an outstanding example representing major stages of Earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features”
• (ix) “is an outstanding example representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems, and communities of plants and animals”
• (x) “contains the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation”

I’ve highlight those parts where I believe the Erie Canal merits consideration.  All we need is for people in positions of responsibility to take up the mantle in getting this treasure of American history the recognition it deserves.

Please contact the Governor of New York State and your Congressman along with New York’s two Senators.  Tell them the Erie Canal is deserving of World Heritage recognition.  Please work to that end.

Click for Gov. Andrew Cuomo:    http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact/GovernorContactForm.php

Click for New York State Congressional Delegation:  http://www.ny.gov/congress_delegation.html

A few minutes of your time is all that is needed.