GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios has asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for an additional 90 days to comment on a draft recovery plan for 23 animal and plant species in the Mariana islands listed as threatened or endangered.
Among those listed as endangered plant species are Solanum malaspinae locally known as tano, and Heritiera longipetiolata or ufa halom tano, which are found on Saipan, Tinian, Rota and Guam.
The endangered animal species found in the CNMI and Guam include the Pacific sheath-tailed bat, the Mariana skink, the Mariana eight-spot butterfly and humped tree snail.
The USFWS provided the public with the opportunity to review the draft recovery plan. The public comment period opened on Nov. 8, 2022, and is due by Feb. 8, 2023.
In his letter to USFWS Regional Director Hugh Morrison on Jan. 26, 2023, Governor Palacios said the comment period was insufficient to adequately review and make substantial comments on the 23 different recovery plans, especially since there have been significant discoveries of additional populations or individuals of several species since they were listed in 2015.
In addition, Palacios said the comment period covered the busiest part of the year — Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
During the holiday season, the governor said the CNMI also held its general and runoff elections followed by the transition to the new administration, which assumed office on Jan. 9, 2023.
He said the ill-timed public comment period will affect the quality of responses, especially since there are 23 different recovery plans to review.
The governor also said that it was his understanding that the territorial governments were not provided an opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions during the development of the various recovery plans before they were disseminated for public review.
“I believe this approach is shortsighted as our island communities are oftentimes more knowledgeable about the wildlife and plants that we live with every day, than federal biologists living elsewhere. The underserved indigenous communities of the Marianas deserve this ample courtesy,” the governor told Morrison.
The governor said he is requesting a 90-day extension of the public comments “so we can provide UFSWS with beneficial comments on the draft recovery plans and supporting documents. This courtesy will allow the CNMI to assist the USFWS in reaching recovery goals for those species occurring on our islands.”
In a separate letter to Morrison dated Feb. 8, 2023, Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero made a similar request.
She said an additional 90-day comment period will “allow a thorough review of the plans and comment by the appropriate agencies within the government of Guam. The additional time is necessary to determine the impact that the discovery of additional populations of several of the species listed in 2015 will have on the draft plans, and to update key data upon which the draft plans rely, some of which have not been updated since 2004.”
