US House passes Kilili’s Rota National Park bill

The U.S. House of Representatives passed on Monday Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan’s (Ind-MP) bill authorizing the Interior secretary to study archaeological, historical and natural resources on Rota for inclusion in the National Park System.

Sablan, in a statement, said his H.R. 1141’s passage in the House is one step closer to having a National Park on Rota and one step closer to the jobs and economic development that such a park would bring.

H.R. 1141 now goes to the Senate, where it will be referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Rep. Teresita Santos (Ind-Rota), who testified on Sablan’s similar bill during the previous Congress, welcomed yesterday HR 1141’s passage and hopes that the U.S. Senate will pass it this time around.

Just like Sablan, Santos talked about the economic gains that the CNMI will get from having a national park established on Rota.

“I will write a letter to the U.S. Senate in support of the bill, hoping they would act on it favorably,” Santos told Saipan Tribune.

A 2005 Department of the Interior field survey found that Monchon Latte Stone Village, the Chugai Pictograph Cave, and other ancient sites on Rota have national significance and should be protected. The “suitability and feasibility” study that the U.S. House approved on Monday will look more closely at competing land uses and help identify which areas should be made a National Park.

“Creating a National Park is not a quick or easy process. Only America’s true national treasures can achieve that status,” Sablan said.

Sablan said archaeologically important remains of the ancient Chamorro people and the rare and endangered species of plant and animal life in Rota’s limestone forests are exactly the kind of crown jewels that the National Park system is designed to protect for all time.

Sablan thanked U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and his Democratic counterpart Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, as well as House Natural Resources Committee chairman Doc Hastings (R-Washington) and Ranking Member Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts).

The CNMI delegate also noted the work of former CNMI senator and chair of the Rota Legislative Delegation Diego M. Songao who, in 2004, encouraged the National Park Service to conduct its initial reconnaissance of Rota’s cultural and natural resources.

Sablan said that effort resulted in the finding of national significance and the recommendation for a follow-up suitability and feasibility study.

He also recalled Santos’s testimony in 2010 in Washington, D.C. before the Natural Resources Committee in support of H.R. 4686, Sablan’s earlier Rota Park study bill, which passed the House but was not acted on by the U.S. Senate.

In his statement yesterday, Sablan also thanked Rota Mayor Melchor A. Mendiola and CNMI Senate President Paul A. Manglona for their support.

Sablan said the Rota Cultural and Natural Resources Study Act seems “well-timed” because only last week, President Barack Obama announced steps to increase foreign tourism to the United States by improving the visa system and by initiating new promotional efforts for America’s National Parks and other attractions.

Sablan said he welcomed the president’s commitment to expanding the number of countries that participate in the national visa waiver program, which makes it easier for visitors to enter the U.S.

“Being the closest part of America to the emerging economies of Asia, the Northern Marianas is eager to see new countries added to our visa waiver program. And we want to have the unique cultural and natural resources of our islands added to the national treasures the President intends to promote. We know that having areas on Rota designated as part of the National Park System will help create jobs in eco-tourism, transportation, hotels and restaurants for the people of today,” he said.

“We understand that protecting and preserving these nationally significant resources on Rota will also help ensure jobs for our children and grandchildren in the future.”