TO avoid “complicating” the problem on Farallon de Medinilla, it may be good for the U.S. Department of Defense to get the necessary permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the use of the island, according to Rep. Arnold I. Palacios, chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
“Maybe that is what they should do. The court ruling says they have to comply with that requirement since the U.S. is a signatory to the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Regardless of the Covenant agreement, the U.S. as signatory of that treaty must comply with that. The process could be lengthy, but just the same, they should comply,” said Palacios, R-Saipan and former director of the local Fish and Wildlife Division.
The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. recently granted a summary judgment in favor of the Center for Biological Diversity, a New Mexico environmental group, which filed a lawsuit in Dec. 2000 to stop the Navy from using Farallon de Medinilla for live fire training exercises.
But Palacios said the ruling does not necessarily mean that the Navy would immediately halt its operations on the island.
“It’s not that the military exercises will be closed or that the Covenant would be put in jeopardy. When the Department of Defense applies for a permit and goes through the permitting process, a lot of input will be brought forth and there will be measures on mitigation”, he said.
According to the Center, Farallon de Medinilla nests more than a dozen of migratory birds such as frigatebirds, masked, red-footed and brown boobys, red and white-tailed tropic birds, white and sooty terns, brown and black noddys.
The group said nesting occurs all year round on the island. It is the largest known nesting site for masked boobies in the Marianas and the Carolines.
Since 1976, the Navy and other branches of the U.S. military have used the island and a three-mile buffer around it for target practice.
The group claims that sometimes birds are killed during these exercises. But the Navy says procedures are in place to help limit the impact of the training.
