You don’t have to travel far to find cultural, natural heritage
Apparently, we have some stuff just as good as the Taj Mahal and the Great Barrier Reef right here in our neck of the woods.
In 1972, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted the World Heritage Convention to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world.
The pyramids in Egypt made the grade, as did the Serengeti, the spots listed above and more than 800 others.
Around here, you have several sites to choose from. The combination of Glacier National Park and Alberta’s Waterton Lakes National Park into the world’s first International Peace Park got the nod – in no small part due to its abundant plant and mammal species.
Yellowstone (squeaking by as a regional attraction with 3 percent of its territory in Montana and 1 percent in Idaho) boasts half the world’s known geothermal features – reason enough for its inclusion, even without the bison, grizzly and wolf populations in residence there.
A collection of parks in Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory measured up with the largest nonpolar ice field in the world. The peaks and glaciers of Kluane, Wrangell-St. Elias, Glacier Bay and Tatshenshini-Alsek also serve as home to grizzly bears, caribou and Dall’s sheep.
The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, a contiguous area comprising Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho national parks, and several provincial parks offer still more glaciers and mountains, along with limestone caves, waterfalls, canyons and more.
And for a change of pace, British Columbia’s SGaang Gwaii (Anthony Island) illustrates the life and art of the Haida people.
If, in your ongoing monitoring of UNESCO’s activities, you somehow missed the World Heritage hoopla, you have another chance to get caught up.
Friends of World Heritage, a recently launched initiative of UNESCO, the UN Foundation (the public charity Ted Turner created with his jaw-dropping $1 billion donation) and the travel services company, Expedia, wants to direct your attention to the World Heritage sites and encourage you to practice a little sustainable tourism as you get out to see them.
Expedia’s offering 11 trips to World Heritage spots, with the profits earmarked for the Friends of World Heritage. The current schedule’s far-flung options include Pueblo de Taos, N.M.; Machu Picchu, Peru; Bangkok; and Prague.
You’ll find details at www.expedia.com/worldheritage. And there’s a complete list of World Heritage sites at whc.unesco.org/en/list.
Cavern club
In the grand holiday tradition, dig out your miner’s hat and head for the caves.
Since the early 1990s, Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, near Whitehall, Mont., has been scheduling candlelight tours for groups of up to 20 people. The two-mile tour takes about two hours, and organizers will run eight tours a day on six dates: Dec. 17, 18, 26, 27, 30 and 31.
The candlelight isn’t for romance, though; it’s so you can experience the cave, which was discovered in 1892 by two local ranchers, the way the first visitors did.
And even though the caverns are named after Lewis and Clark, that’s simply an honorary distinction bestowed by Teddy Roosevelt in 1908.
“That was back before there were a lot of things named after Lewis and Clark like there are today,” says Lynette Kemp, park manager.
The caverns were developed in the late 1930s, and there are lights along the way. Those get turned off about halfway through the tour, when you’ll man your candle lantern.
“Going through the Lewis and Clark caverns is real interesting because it’s the most highly decorated cave in the Northwest,” Kemp says. “There are many, many formations. They’re all made by rainfall.
“And it’s a living, growing cave. Water’s still entering and the formations are still growing.”
After your spelunking, you can gather in the visitor center for coffee, hot chocolate and cookies.
The tours fill up every year and reservations are required. Call (406) 287-3541 to sign up or, for more information, go to www.visitmt.com.
Regional events
•Kirkland Arts Center Holiday Arts Sale, through Dec. 20, Kirkland, Wash. Stock up on fine arts, crafts and gifts created by the center’s faculty, resident ceramic artists and members. (www.seeseattle.org/425-822-7161)
•Zoolights Festival, through Dec. 31, Portland. The Oregon Zoo strung nearly a million lights around its grounds for this 18th annual seasonal celebration. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer will be there, along with a host of other zoo characters, life-sized animal silhouettes, and illuminated trees, buildings, walkways and more. New features include an army of 6-foot-long leaf-cutting ants marching along the zoo’s railroad tracks. (www.oregonzoo.com/503-226-1561)
•Lumiere Festival, Dec. 17, Sun Valley, Idaho. The village and Christmas tree light up, the Sun Valley Carolers sing, Santa makes an appearance, and you can belly up to the food station and wine bar. (www.visitsunvalley.com /208-622-2135)