**United States of America**

**World Heritage Natural Sites**

**Statements of Significance**

**June 2006**

**Carlsbad Caverns National Park**

The more than 100 limestone caves within Carlsbad Caverns National Park
are outstanding and notable world-wide because of their size, mode of
origin, and the abundance, diversity and beauty of the speleothems
(decorative rock formations) within. On-going geologic processes
continue to form rare and unique speleothems, particularly in
Lechuguilla Cave. Carlsbad Caverns and Lechuguilla Cave are well known
for their great natural beauty, exceptional geologic features, and
unique reef and rock formations. The Permian-aged Capitan Reef complex
(in which Carlsbad Caverns, Lechuguilla and other caves formed) is one
of the best preserved and most accessible complexes available for
scientific study in the world.

**Criteria**

(i) Carlsbad Caverns National Park is one of the few places in the world
    where on-going geologic processes are most apparent and rare
    speleothems continue to form, enabling scientists to study
    geological processes in a virtually undisturbed environment. These
    speleothems include helictites forming underwater, calcite and
    gypsum speleothems, and an astonishing collection of "biothems,"
    cave formations assisted in their formation by bacteria. Researchers
    can study both the Capitan reef's inside through cave passages that
    penetrate in and through it as well as eroded canyon-exposed cross
    sections outside.

\(iii\) The park's primary caves, Carlsbad and Lechuguilla, are well
known for the abundance, diversity, and beauty of their decorative rock
formations. Lechuguilla Cave exhibits rare and unique speleothems,
including a great abundance of large calcite and gypsum formations,
including the largest accumulation of gypsum "chandeliers," some of
which extend more than six meters (18 feet) in length.

**Everglades National Park**

Everglades National Park is the largest designated sub-tropical
wilderness reserve on the North American continent. Its juncture at the
interface of temperate and sub-tropical America, fresh and brackish
water, shallow bays and deeper coastal waters creates a complex of
habitats supporting a high diversity of flora and fauna. It contains the
largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere, the largest
continuous stand of sawgrass prairie and the most significant breeding
ground for wading birds in North America.

**Criteria**

(i) The Everglades is a vast, nearly flat, seabed that was submerged at
    the end of the last Ice Age. Its limestone substrate is one of the
    most active areas of modern carbonate sedimentation.

\(ii\) The Everglades contains vast subtropical wetlands and
coastal/marine ecosystems including freshwater marshes, tropical
hardwood hammocks, pine rocklands, extensive mangrove forests, saltwater
marshes, and seagrass ecosystems important to commercial and
recreational fisheries. Complex biological processes range from basic
algal associations through progressively higher species and ultimately
to primary predators such as the alligator, crocodile, and Florida
panther; the food chain is superbly evident and unbroken. The mixture of
subtropical and temperate wildlife species is found nowhere else in the
United States.

(iv) Everglades National Park is a noteworthy example of viable
     biological processes. The exceptional variety of its water habitats
     has made it a sanctuary for a large number of birds and reptiles
     and it provides refuge for over 20 rare, endangered, and threatened
     species. These include the Florida panther, snail kite, alligator,
     crocodile, and manatee. It provides important foraging and breeding
     habitat for more than 400 species of birds, includes the most
     significant breeding grounds for wading birds in North America and
     is a major corridor for migration.

**Grand Canyon National Park**

The Grand Canyon is among the earth's greatest on-going geological
spectacles. Its vastness is stunning, and the evidence it reveals about
the earth's history is invaluable. The 1.5-kilometer (0.9 mile) deep
gorge ranges in width from 500 m to 30 km (0.3 mile to 18.6 miles). It
twists and turns 445 km (276.5 miles) and was formed during 6 million
years of geologic activity and erosion by the Colorado River on the
upraised earth's crust. The buttes, spires, mesas and temples in the
canyon are in fact mountains looked down upon from the rims. Horizontal
strata exposed in the canyon retrace geological history over 2 billion
years and represent the four major geologic eras.

**Criteria**

\(i\) Within park boundaries, the geologic record spans all four eras of
the earth\'s evolutionary history, from the Precambrian to the Cenozoic.
The Precambrian and Paleozoic portions of this record are particularly
well exposed in canyon walls and include a rich fossil assemblage.
Numerous caves shelter fossils and animal remains that extend the
paleontological record into the Pleistocene.

\(ii\) Grand Canyon is an exceptional example of biological environments
at different elevations that evolved as the river cut deeper portraying
five of North America's seven life zones within canyon walls. Flora and
fauna species overlap in many of the zones and are found throughout the
canyon.

\(iii\) Widely known for its exceptional natural beauty and considered
one of the world\'s most visually powerful landscapes, the Grand Canyon
is celebrated for its plunging depths; temple-like buttes; and vast,
multihued, labyrinthine topography. Scenic wonders within park
boundaries include high plateaus, plains, deserts, forests, cinder
cones, lava flows, streams, waterfalls, and one of America's great
whitewater rivers.

\(iv\) The park's diverse topography has resulted in equally diverse
ecosystems. The five life zones within the canyon are represented in a
remarkably small geographic area. Grand Canyon National Park is an
ecological refuge, with relatively undisturbed remnants of dwindling
ecosystems (such as boreal forest and desert riparian communities), and
numerous endemic, rare or endangered plant and animal species.

**Great Smoky Mountains National Park**

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a major North American refuge
of temperate zone flora and fauna that survived the Pleistocene
glaciations. The park includes the largest remnant of the diverse
Arcto-Tertiary geoflora era left in the world, and provides an
indication of the appearance of late Pleistocene flora. It is large
enough to allow the continuing biological evolution of this natural
system, and its biological diversity exceeds that of other
temperate-zone protected areas of comparable size. The park is of
exceptional natural beauty with undisturbed, virgin forest including the
largest block of virgin red spruce remaining on earth.

**Criteria**

(i) Great Smoky Mountains National Park is of world importance as the
    outstanding example of the diverse Arcto-Tertiary geoflora era,
    providing an indication of what the late Pleistocene flora looked
    like before recent human impacts.

\(ii\) The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the largest
remaining remnants of the diverse Arcto-Tertiary geoflora era in the
world. It is large enough to be a significant example of continuing
biological evolution of this natural system.

\(iii\) The site is of exceptional natural beauty with scenic vistas of
characteristic mist-shrouded ("smoky") mountains, vast stretches of
virgin timber, and clear running streams.

\(iv\) The Great Smoky Mountains is of the one of the most ecologically
rich and diverse temperate zone protected areas in the world. There are
over 1300 native vascular plant species, including 105 native tree
species, plus nearly 500 species of non-vascular plants - a level of
floristic diversity that rivals or exceeds other temperate zone
protected areas of similar size. The park is also home to the world's
greatest diversity of salamander species (31) - an important indicator
of overall ecosystem health - and is the center of diversity for
lungless salamanders, with 24 species.

**Hawaii Volcanoes National Park**

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park contains Mauna Loa and Kilauea, two of
the world's most active and accessible volcanoes where ongoing
geological processes are easily observed. This property serves as an
excellent example of island building through volcanic processes. Through
the process of shield-building volcanism, the park\'s landscape is one
of relatively constant, dynamic change. The park contains significant
parts of two of the world\'s most active and best understood volcanoes,
Kilauea and Mauna Loa. The volcano Mauna Loa, measured from the ocean
floor, is the greatest volcanic mass on earth.

**Criteria**

\(i\) This property is a unique example of significant island building
through ongoing volcanic processes. It represents the most recent
activity in the continuing process of the geologic origin and change of
the Hawaiian Archipelago.

**Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek**

The Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek national
parks and protected areas along the boundary of Canada and the United
States of America are the largest non-polar icefield in the world and
contain examples of some of the world's longest and most spectacular
glaciers. Characterized by high mountains, icefields and glaciers, the
property transitions from northern interior to coastal biogeoclimatic
zones, resulting in high biodiversity with plant and animal communities
ranging from marine, coastal forest, montane, sub-alpine and alpine
tundra, all in various successional stages. The Tatshenshini and Alsek
river valleys are pivotal because they allow ice-free linkages from
coast to interior for plant and animal migration. The parks demonstrate
some of the best examples of glaciation and modification of landscape by
glacial action in a region still tectonically active, spectacularly
beautiful, and where natural processes prevail.

**Criteria**

(i) These tectonically active joint properties feature continuous
    mountain building and contain outstanding examples of major ongoing
    geologic and glacial processes. Over 200 glaciers in the ice-covered
    central plateau combine to form some of the world's largest and
    longest glaciers, several of which stretch to the sea. The site
    displays a broad range of glacial processes, including world-class
    depositional features and classic examples of moraines, hanging
    valleys, and other geomorphological features.

\(ii\) The influence of glaciation at a landscape level has led to a
similarly broad range of stages in ecological succession related to the
dynamic movements of glaciers. Subtly different glacial environments and
landforms have been concentrated within the property by the sharp
temperature and precipitation variation between the coast and interior
basins. There is a rich variety of terrestrial and coastal/marine
environments with complex and intricate mosaics of life at various
successional stages from 500 meters (1,500 feet) below sea level to 5000
meters (15,000 feet) above.

\(iii\) The joint properties encompass the breadth of active tectonic,
volcanic, glacial and fluvial natural processes from the ocean to some
of the highest peaks in North America. Coastal and marine environments,
snow-capped mountains, calving glaciers, deep river canyons, fjord-like
inlets and abundant wildlife abound. It is an area of exceptional
natural beauty.

\(iv\) Wildlife species common to Alaska and Northwestern Canada are
well represented, some in numbers exceeded nowhere else. The marine
components support a great variety of fauna including marine mammals and
anadromous fish, the spawning of which is a key ecological component
linking the sea to the land through the large river systems. Populations
of bears, wolves, caribou, Dall sheep and mountain goats that are
endangered elsewhere are self regulating here. This is one of the few
places remaining in the world where ecological processes are governed by
natural stresses and the evolutionary changes in a glacial and
ecological continuum.

**Mammoth Cave National Park**

Mammoth Cave is the most extensive cave system in the world, with over
285 miles (456 km) of surveyed cave passageways within the property (and
at least another 80 miles \[128 km\] outside the property). The park
illustrates a number of stages of the Earth\'s evolutionary history and
contains ongoing geological processes and unique wildlife. It is
renowned for its size and vast network of extremely large horizontal
passages and vertical shafts. Nearly every type of cave formation is
known within the site, the product of karst topography. The flora and
fauna of Mammoth Cave is the richest cave-dwelling wildlife known, with
more than 130 species within the cave system.

**Criteria**

\(i\) Mammoth Cave exhibits 100 million years of cave-forming action and
presents nearly every type of cave formation known. Geological processes
involved in their formation continue. Today, this huge and complex
network of cave passages provides a clear, complete and accessible
record of the world's geomorphic and climatic changes. Outside the cave,
the karst topography is superb, with fascinating landscapes and all of
the classic features of a karst drainage system: vast recharge area,
complex network of underground conduits, sink holes, cracks, fissures,
and underground rivers and springs.

\(iii\) Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world. The long
passages with huge chambers, vertical shafts, stalagmites and
stalactites, splendid forms of beautiful gypsum flowers, delicate gypsum
needles, rare mirabilite flowers and other natural features of the cave
system are all superlative examples of their type. No other known cave
system in the world offers a greater variety of sulfate minerals.

\(iv\) The flora and fauna of the cave is the richest caverniculous
wildlife known, numbering over 130 species, of which 14 species of
troglobites and troglophiles are known only to exist here.

**Olympic National Park**

Olympic National Park features spectacular coastline, scenic lakes,
majestic mountains and glaciers, and magnificent temperate rainforest.
It is the lowest latitude in the world in which glaciers form at
relatively low elevation. Its relative isolation and highly varied
rainfall have produced complex and varied life zones. Olympic contains a
great wealth of geological formations. The rocky islets along the coast
are remnants of a continuously receding and changing coastline. The
biological evolution, ecological variety and sheer splendor of Olympic
National Park make it a special place.

**Criteria**

(i) Olympic contains an 80 kilometer (50 mile) coastal strip of
    wilderness beach characterized by rocky headlands. The rocky islets
    along the coast are remnants of a continuously receding and changing
    coastline, and the arches, caves, and buttresses are evidence of the
    continuous battering of the waves. The park contains 60 active
    glaciers and is unique in that it is the lowest latitude in the
    world in which glaciers form below 2,000 meters (6,000 feet) and
    exist below 1,300 meters (4,000 feet).

\(ii\) The park's varied topography from seashore to glacier, affected
by high rainfall has produced complex and varied vegetation zones,
providing habitats of unmatched diversity on the Pacific coast. The
coastal Olympic rainforest reaches its maximum development within the
property and has a living standing biomass which may be the highest
anywhere in the world. The park's isolation has allowed the development
of endemic wildlife, subspecies of trout, varieties of plants and unique
fur coloration in mammals, indications of a separate course of
evolution.

\(iii\) Olympic National Park is of remarkable beauty, and is the
largest protected area in the temperate region of the world that
includes in one complex ecosystems from ocean edge through temperate
rainforest, alpine meadows and glaciated mountain peaks. It contains one
of the world's largest stands of virgin temperate rainforest, and
includes many of the largest coniferous tree species on earth.

**Redwood National Park**

The park's primary feature is the coastal redwood forest, a surviving
remnant of the group of trees that has existed for 160 million years and
was once found throughout many of the moist temperate regions of the
world, but is now confined to the wet regions of the west coast of North
America. The park contains some of the tallest and oldest known trees in
the world. Rich intertidal, marine and freshwater stream flora and fauna
are also present in the two distinctive physiographic environments of
coastline and coastal mountains that include the old growth forest and
stream communities.

**Criteria**

(ii) Redwood National Park preserves the largest remaining contiguous
     ancient coast redwood forest in the world in their original forest
     and streamside settings.

\(iii\) Redwood National Park comprises a region of coastal mountains
bordering the Pacific Ocean, equidistant (560 kilometers or 350 miles)
from San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon. It is covered with
a magnificent forest of Coast redwoods *(Sequoia sempervirens)*, the
tallest living things and among the most impressive trees in the world.
Several of the world\'s tallest known trees grow within the property.

**Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park**

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park has a distinctive climate,
physiographic setting, mountain-prairie interface, and tri-ocean
hydrographical divide. It is an area of significant scenic values with
abundant and diverse flora and fauna.

**Criteria**

(ii) The property occupies a pivotal position in the Western Cordillera
     of North America resulting in the evolution of plant communities
     and ecological complexes that occur nowhere else in the world.
     Maritime weather systems unimpeded by mountain ranges to the north
     and south allow plants and animals characteristic of the Pacific
     Northwest to extend to and across the continental divide in the
     park. To the east, prairie communities nestle against the mountains
     with no intervening foothills, producing an interface of prairie,
     montane and alpine communities. The international peace park
     includes the headwaters of three major watersheds draining through
     significantly different biomes to different oceans. The
     biogeographical significance of this tri-ocean divide is increased
     by the many vegetated connections between the headwaters. The net
     effect is to create a unique assemblage and high diversity of flora
     and fauna concentrated in a small area.

\(iii\) Both national parks were originally designated by their
respective nations because of their superlative mountain scenery, their
high topographic relief, glacial landforms, and abundant diversity of
wildlife and wildflowers.

**Yellowstone National Park**

Yellowstone National Park is a protected area showcasing significant
geological phenomena and processes. It is also a unique manifestation of
geothermal forces, natural beauty, and wild ecosystems where rare and
endangered species thrive. As the site of one of the few remaining
intact large ecosystems in the northern temperate zone of earth,
Yellowstone's ecological communities provide unparalleled opportunities
for conservation, study, and enjoyment of large-scale wildland ecosystem
processes.

**Criteria**

(i) Yellowstone is one of the world\'s foremost sites for the study and
    appreciation of the evolutionary history of the earth. The park has
    a globally unparalleled assemblage of surficial geothermal activity,
    thousands of hot springs, mudpots and fumaroles, and more than half
    of the world's active geysers. Nearly 150 species of fossil plants,
    ranging from small ferns and rushes up to large Sequoia and many
    other tree species, have been identified in the park's abundant
    fossil deposits. The world's largest recognized caldera (45km by
    75km -- 27 miles by 45 miles) is contained within the park.

\(ii\) The park is one of the few remaining intact large ecosystems in
the northern temperate zone of the earth. All flora in the park are
allowed to progress through natural succession with no direct management
being practiced. Forest fires, if started from lightning, are often
allowed to burn where possible to permit the natural effects of fire to
periodically assert itself. The park's bison are the only wild,
continuously free-ranging bison remaining of herds that once covered the
Great Plains and, along with other park wildlife, are one of the
greatest attractions.

\(iii\) The extraordinary scenic treasures of Yellowstone include the
world's largest collection of geysers, the Grand Canyon of the
Yellowstone River, numerous waterfalls, and great herds of wildlife.

\(iv\) Yellowstone National Park has become one of North America\'s
foremost refuges for rare plant and animal species and also functions as
a model for ecosystem processes. The grizzly bear is one of the worlds'
most intensively studied and best-understood bear populations. This
research has led to a greater understanding of the interdependence of
ecosystem relationships. Protection of the park's flora and fauna, as
well as the natural processes that affect their population and
distribution allow biological evolution to proceed with minimal
influence by man.

**Yosemite National Park**

Yosemite National Park vividly illustrates the effects of glacial
erosion of granitic bedrock, creating geologic features that are unique
in the world. Repeated glaciations over millions of years have resulted
in a concentration of distinctive landscape features, including soaring
cliffs, domes, and free-falling waterfalls. There is exceptional
glaciated topography, including the spectacular Yosemite Valley, a 1
kilometer (1/2 mile) deep, glacier-carved cleft with massive sheer
granite walls. These geologic features provide a scenic backdrop for
mountain meadows and giant sequoia groves, resulting in a diverse
landscape of exceptional natural and scenic beauty.

**Criteria**

(i) Glacial action combined with the granitic bedrock has produced
    unique and pronounced landform features including distinctive
    polished dome structures, as well as hanging valleys, tarns,
    moraines and U-shaped valleys. Granitic landforms such as Half Dome
    and the vertical walls of El Capitan are classic distinctive
    reflections of geologic history. No other area portrays the effects
    of glaciation on underlying granitic domes as well as Yosemite does.

(ii) Yosemite has exceptional natural beauty, including 5 of the
     world\'s highest waterfalls, a combination of granite domes and
     walls, deeply incised valleys, three groves of giant sequoia,
     numerous alpine meadows, lakes, diversity of life zones and variety
     of species.