WHS new “Tentative List”: Places to Love–White Sands National Monument

by Grant Martin on

For the Gadling series “World Heritage Site new “Tentative List”: Places to Love” we are covering the 14 sites that have been submitted for possible inclusion as an official World Heritage Site in the United States. The sites will not be posted in order of importance or in the order they appear on the list.

Number 14

Name of Site: White Sands National Monument

Location: 52 miles east of Las Cruces, New Mexico, just north of El Paso, Texas

Reason for importance in a nutshell: White Sands, NM is one of the only places in the world you can see, you guessed it, white sand dunes. Normally, fine gypsum in this form is washed out to sea, but the Tularosa Basin has no such drainage, so the white sand piles up.

Grant’s Take: Anywhere that you can go to play in white sand is automatically pretty sweet in my book. While many of us have been to white sand beaches, they just don’t have the same effect of an entire basin full of sand dunes. It’s a pretty surreal experience, and well worth the visit if you’re in the El Paso area.

Check out some video of the monument here.

WHS new “Tentative List”: Places to Love–Fatatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary

by Grant Martin on

For the Gadling series “World Heritage Site new “Tentative List”: Places to Love” we are covering the 14 sites that have been submitted for possible inclusion as an official World Heritage Site in the United States. The sites will not be posted in order of importance or in the order they appear on the list.

Number 11

Name of Site: Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Location: American Samoa, deep in the South Pacific, east of Australia

Reason for importance in a nutshell: With the world’s coral reefs shrinking at an astonishing rate, it’s no question that Fagatele Bay Sanctuary needs to be and broadcast and preserved. This small sanctuary is host to a wealth of marine wildlife, from humpback whales to butterfly fish to sea turtles.

Grant’s Take: American Samoa is one of those places that many have heard of a few times but that few have actually been to. It’s probably because the South Pacific is just so darned difficult to get to. It’s not like you can jump in the family station wagon, pack a cooler of sandwiches and root beer and be there by dinnertime — even after flying the many hours to get to into the Pacific you usually have to take some sort of small connecting aircraft to make the multi-hop to your island.

And it’s probably why most people haven’t heard of the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary. But if you’ve seen any of the specials on the Great Barrier Reef on the Discovery or Travel Channel in the last five years, you know how endangered the world’s coral reefs are. Fagatele is no different. Climate change and over harvesting will affect this tiny preserve as well, and it’s important that we as humans see, learn about and preserve this sort of natural wonder. Add it to your itinerary if you’re ever in the neighborhood.