The administration, according to Department of Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Ignacio Dela Cruz, did all it could to let the federal government understand the concerns of the islands’ indigenous people.
Many local residents and almost all CNMI elected officials opposed the monument proposal.
But despite all the local efforts to block the monument, it was going to happen anyway, Dela Cruz said.
The Fitial administration, the added, worked closely with White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman James L. Connaughton to ensure that the interest of the indigenous people was protected and all their concerns were properly addressed.
The result: President Bush’s marine monument declaration was shaped into something that CNMI officials could “embrace.”
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial himself was in the White House when Bush signed the declaration on Jan. 6.
Dela Cruz said among the significant changes was the reduction of the covered area. From 200 miles as originally proposed, the marine monument around the islands of Maug, Uracas and Asuncion now covers only 50 nautical miles of waters.
Most importantly, Dela Cruz said, the marine monument designation gave CNMI control over three miles of its submerged lands.
Bush has asked the Department of the Interior to submit legislation that transfers control of the three miles of submerged lands to the CNMI, consistent with what was provided to Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
Also not in the original proposal was the possibility of commercial fishing in the eastern waters of the CNMI where the Marianas Trench is located.
Bush’s declaration allows commercial fishing in the area. It will be prohibited only within the three northernmost islands.
Dela Cruz said the CNMI’s indigenous people are still entitled to sustenance, recreational and traditional fishing in waters covered by the marine monument.
Moreover, the CNMI will be part of the management planning for the marine monument.
Jack Ogumoro, the CNMI coordinator of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, said the governor did not change his heart on the issue.
The governor, he added, fought for the interest of the CNMI people.
Since there was no way stopping the declaration, all the governor could do was to insist on the inclusion of conditions beneficial to the CNMI’s indigenous people, Ogumoro said.
In an e-mail yesterday, Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. recalled that when the Pew group originally pushed the monument proposal, the CNMI’s leaders did not have an opportunity to negotiate the terms of such a monument or provide meaningful feedback to federal policy makers.
He said it was only through the efforts of the governor and the Legislature that the CNMI finally had an opportunity to discuss the matter with the White House and change the scope of the plan through extended joint deliberations.
