First article to highlight that the US can and plans to rejoin UNESCO and restart funding.

https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-725790

Potentially a $616 million USD boost to UNESCO when the US Rejoins.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/01/11/us-considers-rejoining-unesco-despite-616m-membership-debt-and-israel-palestine-controversies

With less than 12 months until submission, the nomination file for the Civil Rights Movement Sites may be nearing completion. World Heritage USA (US ICOMOS) aspires for this serial nomination dossier to be submitted by February 2024 and evaluated for the 2025 WHC. If successfully inscribed during the 60th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March and Voting Rights Act, this will surely be promoted more than most US nominations. It will also include components in multiple state which have yet to gain a world heritage site.

I have visited 8 of the 13 expected components and my review now updated reflects the values of each component.

Visited:
- Martin Luther King National Historical Park [Ebenezer Baptist Church]
- Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument [16th Street Baptist Church]
- National Historic Trail Selma To Montgomery [Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church]
- National Mall and Memorial Parks [The Lincoln Memorial]
- National Historic Trail Selma To Montgomery [Edmund Pettus Bridge]
- Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park [Monroe School]
- Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
- National Civil Rights Museum [The Lorraine Motel]

Not visited:
- Bethel Baptist Church (Birmingham, AL) *Declined to make a superficial visit (building closed)
- Robert Russa Moton High School (Farmville, VA)
- International Civil Rights Center & Museum [F.W. Woolworth's Building] (Greensboro, NC)
- Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument (Jackson, MS) *Declined to make a superficial visit (building closed)
- Freedom Riders National Monument [Greyhound Bus Terminal and Burning Site] (Anniston, AL)

My Flickr Album provides an overview of each site, including the historic sites themselves and museum exhibits on site. While the final list of serial components could change slightly, it is undoubtedly a far larger nomination than the original 3 components listed in the 2008 nomination description. When I emailed the National Park service, they indicated the plan still aims for a 2024 submission, but they also cautioned that it could take longer.

This official video by World Heritage USA, once again highlights the majority of this collection of historical sites.

Of the sites I visited, the strongest candidates were:
- Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument [16th Street Baptist Church] *tour required
- National Mall and Memorial Parks [The Lincoln Memorial]
- Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park [Monroe School]
- Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
- National Civil Rights Museum [The Lorraine Motel]

Of the sites I have not visited, the other strong candidate is:
- International Civil Rights Center & Museum [F.W. Woolworth's Building] (Greensboro, NC)

There has been considerable efforts to promote and improve the interpretation at this site and expand the museum.
https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2023/02/sixty-three-years-after-the-greensboro-sit-in-the-international-civil-rights-museum-center-museum-blueprints-an-equitable-future

Not sure if it has been mentioned before, but I don't see the link in the thread. Okefenokee has its own WHS Bid website: okefenokeeworldheritage.org

No indication with regards to a timeline of inscription at the moment, though.

Thanks for sharing the website, I had not seen it, but all indication is that the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge will be the next US Natural nomination, perhaps as soon as 2026 or 2027. The main barrier that may delay this nomination is a mining rights claim/potential near the park boundary.