AS the military exercises on Farallon De Medinilla resumed Saturday, Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente said the presence of the nation’s armed forces in the Marianas is necessary to generate more “economic activities” for the commonwealth.
“But that does not necessarily mean that we are going to jeopardize the environment— we also need to meet certain environmental restriction in the use of that island,” Benavente said.
Although the U.S. Court of Appeals’ May 22 decision was only to stay the 30-day preliminary injunction halting all military activities on Farallon De Medinilla, Benavente said he is optimistic that the Department of Defense will address the concerns raised by the Center for Biological Diversity.
“We will certainly stand behind the military’s need to use the island,” Benavente said.
He said despite the military’s exercises for the past 30 years, “there are still a lot of birds on that island.”
Benavente joined U.S. Navy officials when it recently visited Farallon de Medinilla.
Sonya Artero, the governor’s special assistant for federal policy and research, said “there should be some kind of an agreement between the military and the environmental groups pertaining to the use of the island.”
She said the agreement should indicate when to use the island and when not to, and should take into consideration the mating season of the birds.
She said after the Sept. 11 incident, it has become “important” that the military’s forward deployed naval forces should step up their training.
