But some CNMI lawmakers yesterday said they don’t want to give the Bush administration a legacy at the expense of the indigenous people’s right to access their ancestral marine heritage. (See story on page 10)
Senate Vice President Felix T. Mendiola, Covenant-Rota, told James Connaughton, chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality, that the CNMI supports conservation projects but it must be done without sacrificing ancestral heritage and economic benefits.
“Why are we rushing this? Is it because the president wants this [Mariana Trench Marine National Monument] to be his monumental achievement [before he leaves office in Jan. 2009]?” Mendiola told the visiting panel which also included U.S. Interior Department’s Assistant Secretary for Fish & Wildlife and Parks Lyle Laverty, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Timothy Keeney, and Sean Morton of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
Connaughton’s team appeared before lawmakers yesterday morning along with monument supporters who wore orange shirts.
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, said he wants to see more scientific assessments that support the need to designate the uninhabited islands of Uracas, Maug and Asuncion as marine sanctuary.
“I would like to see a total assessment, not just from people who all of a sudden came up with this idea. We want to see why is it that certain areas [needed to be designated as a marine monument],” he said.
According to the speaker, “I believe that our community is not anti-conservation. There is no group in the commonwealth that can say that this is our exclusive franchise. In our own way, we are conservationists. Some are more so than others. But throughout the islands in Micronesia, you have traditional conservation methods that are put in place. It really boils down to that.”
Connaughton said the waters around the three northern islands were chosen because they have the “greatest marine diversity on the face of the earth and all of its corals are intact.”
“I am personally amazed at the opportunity,” he told lawmakers. “You should be too but that’s for you to decide. You possess resources that can have scientific [value] for all. It’s really quite remarkable.”
The White House official asked lawmakers to meet with marine experts regarding the environmental and economic benefits of the marine monument proposal.
A total of 115,000 square miles of water surrounding the waters of the CNMI, or about the size of Arizona, will be federally protected under the marine monument proposal.
Rep. Tina Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, who was among the few lawmakers who did not vote in favor of a resolution asking Bush to reject the proposal, asked the proponents of the project to ensure the inclusion of Northern Marianas College in scientific studies that will be conducted in the area.
She also asked that local hires be given preference in law enforcement activities if the project pushes through.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and the Legislature have asked the president to establish a U.S. Coast Guard base unit in the CNMI instead of designating a marine monument.
The waters around the proposed marine monument are already marine protected areas under the CNMI Constitution.
The Philadelphia-based Pew Environment Group said the marine monument will probably be the CNMI’s greatest conservation contribution to the world.
