WHOA~ a MUST read from Dr. John Lohse in the Record today!! I have long wondered why the effort stalled and the whispers about him allegedly being fired. Open letter to the community about World Heritage Designation and Cultural Resources at Spring Town Lake My family and I will soon be leaving San Marcos. Before we do, I wanted to share some overdue perspective regarding the possible designation of Spring Lake as a UNESCO World Heritage site. I was involved in discussions around this issue a couple of years ago, and even gave a little talk to the community about what would be involved. At that time, there was a great deal of interest in this possibility, since many people in San Marcos recognize Spring Lakes unique qualities. There was and is a lot of concern not only about protecting the river from the effects of urbanization, but also in commemorating Spring Lake as a spiritual, economic, cultural, environmental, and scientific wonder. Several people have approached me in recent months wanting to know where the World Heritage initiative stands and what is being done to move it forward. My goal in writing this letter is to help the community understand the nature of the obstacles that stand in the way of seeing this initiative come to fruition. After I became the director of the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University in 2009, I quickly perceived the significance of Spring Lake to the San Marcos community. For professional reasons, it was important to help make Spring Lake better understood scientifically. As an anthropologist, it was also important to find ways to open this resource to the community in terms of shared participation and representation. Giving voices to interested local stakeholders, especially descendant communities, has become one of the cornerstones of anthropological archaeology of the 21st century. Striking this balance in the context of my job as was never easy, but I was continually rewarded by the feedback I received not only from people of this community but also by my professional colleagues at other academic and governmental institutions. World Heritage designation is among the highest recognitions that any site can receive. UNESCO once maintained separate lists for natural and cultural sites, but recently combined the two. To qualify, a property need only fulfill one of about ten criteria; Spring Lake easily meets at least six of these and probably more (see more at whc.unesco.org/). To bring deserving
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 15:53:51 +0000
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