The U.S. Interior Department is proposing to have the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument nominated as a World Heritage site.

The locations are designated under an international treaty for the preservation of natural and cultural heritage sites of global significance.

Located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the monument covers almost 140,000 square miles of ocean wilderness.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources says Papahanaumokuakea and Mount Vernon, Virginia, will be proposed as the United States' first nominations for consideration for the World Heritage list since 1994.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island is the only World Heritage site in Hawai'i. It was designated in 1987.