Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council member Benigno M. Sablan, who is one of the nominees, said their names were submitted in Jan. 2009.
“We don’t deserve this kind of treatment,” he told the Variety.
Aside from Sablan, the other nominees are Fish and Wildlife Director Sylvan Igisomar and Senior Policy Advisor Dr. John Joyner, who replaced the original nominee and former Wespac advisory panel member Joaquin Villagomez.
Sablan said they want to be on the council to “fight” for the establishment of a visitor center on Saipan, which remains unfunded.
“They did all of this so fast,” Sablan said, referring to the U.S. presidential designation of the waters and submerged lands of the three northernmost Mariana Islands — Farallon de Pajaros or Uracas, Maug and Asuncion — as part of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.
Fitial has described Sablan, Igisomar and Joyner as the “champions of reasonable, practical and meaningful conservation efforts and practices.”
According to the proclamation signed by then-President George W. Bush, “The Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce, within 3 months of the date of this proclamation and after considering recommendations from the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish the Mariana Monument Advisory Council to provide advice and recommendations on the development of management plans and management of the monument. The Advisory Council shall consist of three officials of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and one representative each from the Department of Defense and the United States Coast Guard.”
