“Mr. President, it is only fair that you allow and give the people of the Northern Mariana Islands the same time period given the people of the State of Hawaii to study the negative and positive effect of having to designate a permanent national marine monument within the CNMI waters,” Taisakan said in a letter to Bush.
Taisakan said Bush signed the declaration creating the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument on June 15, 2006 — six years after it was proposed.
The mayor noted the importance of safeguarding the cultural values and tradition of persons of Northern Marianas descent.
“The economy, needs and priority of the people of the State of Hawaii…are different from that of the CNMI,” he said.
The people of the CNMI, he added, need to understand how the proposed national marine monument would affect local fisheries, tourism and other economic activities in their area.
Declaring the three northernmost islands a monument “without consultation with the people of the commonwealth…is not in good standing and spirit of the Covenant,” Taisakan said.
The main proponent of the monument proposal is the Pew Environment Group which is conducting public forums about the project.
