A great opportunity for the NMI

The indigenous people of the CNMI are suffering. The economy is bad, gas prices are at an all time high, and many of us are having a hard time putting food on the table. The garment factories are leaving, tourism is down, and government coffers are empty.
The CNMI needs something, anything really, to turn these islands around.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the Pew Environment Group appears with their Ocean Legacy project and their proposed “National Park of the Sea.” This is not a floating hotel, a peanut butter factory, a shoe factory, or any other fly-by-night operation, the likes of which seem to find our shores on a pretty regular basis. This is the Pew Environment Group, part of the Pew Charitable Trusts. They are one of the most prestigious, respected non-profits in the world. They are here to help us facilitate a discussion with the federal government about creating what would be one of the most significant protected areas in the world.

This proposed project is also different because we will eventually be dealing with the federal government, not some fly-by-night company we’ve never heard of. Let’s get something straight first, though. The controversy the CNMI is now having related to labor and immigration is with the Democratic Congress, not George W. Bush.
When we enter into discussions with the federal government, we will be talking to the Bush administration, not the Congress. The federal government is basically opening up their hands to give us an opportunity to use our natural resources to create economic activity in those uninhabited far northern islands. What economic activity is going on there now?

This protected area, when it is created, will also help open up our culture and our islands to the world. One day people around the world will recognize Hafa Adai and Tirow, the way they recognize Aloha. Won’t that make you proud?

One of the arguments I’ve heard against the proposed project is that our Constitution already protects the land. The park we are looking at is from the shoreline out to 200 miles out. We don’t have jurisdiction over the water, so even if we wanted to protect it, we couldn’t do so with the involvement of the Federal government. Now we get to take that chance to. We get to protect our water and our land. Are we going to give up this opportunity, which might not come again?

I’ve also heard that it would prevent fishermen. Well, there is still plenty of water in which to fish. This is only three islands, which are over 300 miles away from Saipan. There are 11 other islands where we can fish. There probably aren’t more than five boats going up there anyway.

We need to protect something for the indigenous, like what Hawaii has done. If they made some mistakes in creating their monument, how can we create our monument so that we don’t repeat those mistakes? If you don’t like what happened in Hawaii, why not focus on how we can make our monument better, instead of fighting each other over the issue? Why can’t we improve on what they’ve done?

I’ve done some research into the Hawaiian experience with their monument. Over 100,000 comments were taken before President Bush declared their monument. After the monument was created, 57,000 comments were taken in order to draft regulations. Now they are looking for comments on the draft regulations.

There are many more benefits. The feds will train local people, pay for a boat, and funding. There will be increased opportunity for research and education, too.
This is too great an opportunity for the CNMI and our people to pass on. I urge you to support this proposed project.