Urgent Letters Needed to Save Nantucket Sound

Letters are urgently needed to prevent a large-scale wind farm development, called Cape Wind, from being approved in Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts. The project calls for 130 wind turbines each over 285-feet from ground to center-line of turbine rotor, covering 24 square miles of federal waters. Nantucket Sound is part of the Nantucket National Seashore, featuring a pristine landscape and unspoiled scenic views of the Sound.

Nantucket Sound is sacred to the Wampanoag Tribe. Wampanoag means “People of the First Light” because they have sacred ceremonies which require an unobstructed view of the rising sun over Nantucket Sound. The sunrise rituals are also performed on the death of elders. Wampanoag off-shore burials would also be destroyed by the project. They have claimed the Sound as a Traditional Cultural Property and it has been determined eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

There are many other grounds to object to the Cape Wind Project, including environmental, safety and aesthetic. See Fact Sheet Below

Nantucket Sunrise

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Please ask the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to relocate the project to a place that will have fewer impacts on cultural resources.*

Before April 15th Write To:
John Fowler, Executive Director
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 803
Old Post Office Building
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 606-8503 achp@achp.gov www.achp.gov

Nantucket Wind Facts

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Uluru – Ayers Rock Will Not Be Protected

Sacred Uluru

Uluru or Ayers Rock, in Australian, is sacred to aboriginal owners, as a place that figures prominently in their origin history. Despite this fact, the Board of Uluru-KataTjuta National Park has decided against a ban on climbing the rock. There is, however, a new management plan that includes the option of closing the rock in the future should the percentage of visitors who climb the rock decline. The government ruled that the rock’s popularity with tourists should have precedence over the aboriginal’s preference against climbers.

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Isfahan World Heritage Site Threatened

World Heritage Site Threathened by Subway

Esphahan (Isfahan), Iran is one of Iran’s great historic cities with important architetural buildings such as the Hasht Behesht Palace and the Chahar-Bagh School. Some of the sites are sacred such as the Mosque of Sheykh Lotfollah which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Meidan Emam.

Recent subway construction has endangered sites, some dating to the 15th Century. There is concern that vibration from the subway movement and its construction could cause collapse of historic sites.

Isfahan’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization has filed an official complaint against the city’s metropolitan railway authority and UNESCO has sent official representatives to conduct a site inspection.