EPPS, La. (AP) — A new nonprofit organization has been formed to support the scientific and educational aspects of the Poverty Point State Historic Site.
Gary Stringer, president of the nonprofit and professor emeritus of geology at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, tells The News-Star (http://tnsne.ws/1aVvaLx ) the organization, Advocates for Poverty Point, was developed as an outgrowth of the nomination of Poverty Point for the World Heritage List.
“If Poverty Point is placed on the World Heritage List, it would be a tremendous accomplishment for this area and the state,” Stringer said. “Here we may have a site in Louisiana that would be the first and only on a list with Stonehenge and the Pyramids and the Great Wall of China, and it doesn’t really have a support organization.”
Stringer said many other sites on the World Heritage List have support organizations, which is where the idea to create one for Poverty Point originated.
Poverty Point was nominated earlier this year to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The world list includes 962 sites in 157 countries designated as the most significant cultural and natural sites on the planet. Only 21 sites in the United States are listed as a World Heritage Site.
The committee won’t vote on the nomination until summer 2014.
The official mission of Advocates for Poverty Point is to raise public awareness, to perform educational outreach and development, to communicate and advocate with governmental branches, and to raise funds for the benefit of the Poverty Point State Historic Site and the archeology program.
Advocates for Poverty Point is a state-approved nonprofit corporation, and the group met last week to approve its bylaws and elect interim officers.
Stringer said the organization will soon begin its membership drive. He said people of all ages, from children to seniors, will be encouraged to participate.
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Information from: The News-Star, http://www.thenewsstar.com
