Ronnie Rogers said HPO has yet to see the final environmental assessment report for the Lake Susupe Boardwalk Trail Project, but he is confident that their will be no impact on the archeological materials once the project starts this year.
The project is comprised initially of an access road, a parking area, a boardwalk, rest areas and viewing towers.
Rogers helped prepare the project’s archeological scope of work.
The project, he said, aims to give locals and visitors the chance to see the natural beauty of the area.
The lake, he added, contains information about the natural history of Saipan before and during the arrival of humans on island.
Lake Susupe was the site of a paleoenvironmental investigation that revealed how long humans have been occupying the island, he said.
The microscopic charcoal particles extracted from a core recovered from the center of Lake Susupe indicated human occupation of the island that dates back to the early pre latte-period or 1500 BC.
Traces of ceramic assemblages characterized by various well-polished vessel forms, including small jars, were recovered from the lake during the study conducted in 2002.
There were also traces that reflected the development of a flexible land use strategy through which early settlers of the island coped with unpredictable climate problems, Rogers said.
The 17-hectare lake situated in the 202-hectare Susupe wetland is home to many endemic species like the Mariana common moorhen, an endangered species.
The only fish in the lake are the mosquito fish and tilapia.
