Rota Mayor Melchor A. Mendiola, Department of Lands and Natural Resources acting Secretary Arnold I. Palacios, Department of Public Lands Secretary Oscar M. Babauta and Attorney General Edward T. Buckingham already signed the MOA that will allow the CNMI government to award 244 agricultural homestead lots to Rota residents.
The MOA requires DPL to designate a Mariana Crow Conservation Area which will be jointly managed and monitored by DLNR and the Pacific Islands Fish & Wildlife office.
Rep. Teresita A. Santos has been working on the MOA so homestead applicants on Rota “will embrace 2012 with a hope to own a land they can till.”
In an interview yesterday, Santos, Ind.-Rota, said he has sought the help of Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan who updated her two weeks ago about the status of the MOA. She thanked Sablan in a letter, saying she and her constituents sincerely appreciate the congressman’s support.
Santos also thanked USFW Deputy Regional Director Richard Hannan and field supervisor Loyal A. Mehrhoff for accepting the copy of the proposed MOA during their recent visit here.
Santos said some of the lots have already been maintained, cleaned and developed by homesteaders who have waited for a decade to finally claim their homestead lots. Some homesteaders, she added, have been assigned their lots and issued permits.
The rest of the lots are being readied for lottery.
Santos said as soon as USFW signs the MOA, these lots, approximately 246 hectares, will be released to homesteaders.
In administering the Endangered Species Act of 1973, USFW joins the CNMI in recognizing the importance of the Mariana Crow, an endangered species.
The CNMI and federal governments also recognize the immediate need to protect and manage all the Mariana Crows’ critical habitat on Rota.
But, both governments also recognize the importance of agricultural homestead there.
The MOA will serve as a “legal instrument identifying each party’s responsibilities and commitments with regards to the homestead project and the proposed Mariana Crow Conservation Area.”
