There used to be a dirt road through there — rarely travelled because there weren’t many people or all that many cars on island at the time.
In the 1970’s, two bridges along the road collapsed, isolating the area even more.
At some point, someone who’s probably left the island long since drew up plans to reconstruct the road. As is typical here, they were promptly shelved.
Now, those plans have been dusted off, and steps are being taken to put them into effect to re-build that rarely used small dirt road into a paved highway. The reason behind this move it not at all clear — except that federal money is involved, and theoretically, it would be good for the economy to spend it.
The road would connect what is now the Kingfisher Golf course with Bird Island lookout. The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration has prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment, and announced, just last week, that the EA is “available” for comment. The comment period closes on August 19, 2009.
Though (re)construction of the road might have been justified at the height of the tourism bubble, in today’s economy that justification no longer has merit. The demand simply is not there.
The road would cut through an area that, undisturbed since the 1970’s, has allowed a proliferation of wildlife and natural growth, and a depth of species and numbers of both flora and fauna not seen to any significant extent in any other part of Saipan, or in the other two populated islands, for that matter. Functioning as a natural wildlife sanctuary, the area feeds and supports the rest of the islands in maintaining their natural populations throughout. Properly managed, it could also offer any number of eco-tourism-type trails and hikes to tourists seeking something different from Guam’s urban setting, thus strengthening a CNMI market niche of pastoral “R&R.”
However, if the road is built, all this would disappear, disrupting and destroying natural habitat just by virtue of the construction process itself, and continuing to decimate the populations of flora and fauna by the fact that the entire area would suddenly become easily accessible to locals as well as tourists, and thereby prone to development — not to mention predation, vandalism, general degradation – the complete opposite of what the area now offers.
The area’s function as a sanctuary contributes to the natural welfare of the island and its people, it supports the island’s focus on environmental responsibility, it is ecologically meaningful. The area’s destruction by the re-construction of an intrusive road would cause tremendous damage and accomplish very little.
The area also contains numerous significant archaeological sites which are now thankfully protected by their relative inaccessibility in that remote area of the island. Were the road to be built, those archaeological sites would soon be discovered, pillaged, defaced and destroyed.
Not only are the sites considered sacred but they are also extremely important sources of information about the history and culture of the people of the CNMI. There is no way they can all be protected and preserved once the road is put through. Those sites will be desecrated, and lost.
The Hawaii Division, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, would do well to reconsider its intent to reconstruct a highway that has been defunct for many years, that no longer serves the purpose it was once intended for, and that would cause tremendous ecological and archaeological damage to the entire area. Surely better uses can be found for the funds involved.
I would urge concerned readers to join me in registering their protests. Perhaps a public hearing should also be asked for?
A copy of the Draft EA can be obtained by contacting Ms. Richelle Takara, Federal Highway Administration, Hawaii Division, Box 50206, 300 Ala Moana Blvd. Rm. 3-306, Honolulu, HI 96850.
Further information is available from Ms.Takara by phone at 808-54-2700, ext 2311, by e-mail at mailto:[email protected], or by mail at the above address.
RUTH L. TIGHE
Tanapag Village
