John B. Joyner, Ph.D., director of the Coastal Resources Management Office; Sylvan O. Igisomar, director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife; Frank M. Rabauliman, director of the Division of Environmental Quality; Ray Mafnas, senior policy advisor to the governor; and local community leaders like Lino M. Olopai wrote a letter to Bush to express their strong opposition to the Marianas Trench Monument proposal seeking to designate the waters around the CNMI islands of Maug, Asuncion and Uracas as a federallly protected area.
“We are baffled that consideration is being given by the White House to designate a national marine monument in the Marianas; a designation that would deny and take away from us the management responsibility of hundreds of years of successful stewardship,” they told Bush in a five-page letter sent through James L. Connaughton, the chairman of the president’s Council on Environmental Quality.
According to the group, “How can the White House denounce Russia for its ‘illegitimate, unilateral attempt’ to redraw borders by force against Georgia, and chide China’s actions against Tibet while proposing through the unilateral designation of a monument in the Marianas to trammel similarly the NMI rights to continue to manage our own marine resources?”
The group added, “You have said repeatedly that it is the role of government to protect the rights of the minority, not to abuse them just because the government may have the power to do so. You and Vice President [Dick] Cheney have intimated that America has the duty to work with the NMI to protect our common interest with the U.S. and to uphold our common democratic value.”
The group described as a “myth” the claim that the project would yield great economic benefits for the Northern Marianas and its neighboring islands.
The Fitial administration, the Legislature and municipal officials fear that the proposal will forever strip the indigenous people of their right to access those islands and its surrounding waters.
They said the waters around the three islands are already considered marine protected areas, so there’s no need to designate them as marine sanctuary.
“We remember being disposed of the area waters first by Spain, then Germany, followed by Japan, and now America? We beg your consideration so we, Pacific Island Americans, might avoid the never forgiven property plight of the Native Americans and the property infamy of the Japanese Americans,” the group said in its letter to the president.
The Senate adopted House Joint Resolution 16-13 during a session Thursday on Rota.
The resolution, which the House has already adopted, is asking Bush to reject the marine monument proposal.
Proponents of the proposal, most notably the Washington-based Pew Environment Group, said the project will probably be the CNMI’s greatest conservation contribution to the world.
“We have a rare opportunity to permanently protect these ocean waters in a way that will benefit the CNMI’s unique marine environment, promote tourism, enhance research and education, and boost the local economy now and for generations to come,” said Jay Nelson, director of the Ocean Legacy Program of the Pew Environment Group, in a letter to the public.
