In a possible development that would have Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Travis rolling in their graves, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is considering designating the Alamo a World Heritage Site. Such a designation brings along a myriad of restrictions, and although proponents of the designation, such as San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, insist that the State of Texas would still have authority over the site, many serious concerns of the people of Texas are not being addressed.
For one thing, such a designation establishes a "buffer zone" of some 4,500 acres around the site, which could affect thousands of Texan property owners in the area. A reminder of what this could mean can be found in the aftermath of Yellowstone National Park being declared a "World Heritage Site in Danger" during the Clinton administration. A privately owned mine located miles away from the park was forced to close under the auspices of this declaration.
The principle of property rights is an alien concept to the world government bureaucrats of the United Nations. The collectivist nature of these true believers is that the less enlightened inhabitants of other countries need to sacrifice their rights for the good of the world collective. So now Texans are faced with violation of their property rights due to regulations handed down by an international body over which they have no course of redress.
The final insult was delivered by local officials who said that such a designation would bring "an immense honor" to the Alamo. So the ultimate price paid by the some 180 defenders of the Alamo was not enough to deliver "immense honor," but a U.N. designation would finally make the site worthy of note.
