MC up in arms vs sanctuary plan

A member of local conservation group Marianas Conservation wrote an open letter yesterday to President Barack Obama to dissuade the outgoing president from designating the Mariana Trench as a marine sanctuary on top of being a national monument. Doing so effectively gives the federal government most, if not complete, jurisdiction over the Mariana Trench, which is also a part of the exclusive economic zone of the Northern Marianas.

Once the Mariana Trench is declared a marine sanctuary on top of being a marine national monument, it will require those who wish to, say, fish or mine in the area, to obtain permission from the federal government twice—one for the trench being a national monument and another for the trench being a marine sanctuary.

John Gourley, a member of Marianas Conservation, claims in his letter to Obama that Pew, which is proposing to add the status of marine sanctuary over the trench’s marine national monument status, has made “empty promises” and “orchestrated and funded the deceitful” Marianas Trench Monument campaign in 2008.”

“Pew was telling us here in the Marianas that we should have a marine national monument because it is going to bring us economic benefits, it was going to be co-managed, and they basically made a lot of promises and none of them came true—it was just a series of broken promises,” Gourley told Saipan Tribune.

Since being declared a marine national monument, permission must be granted by the federal government to do various activities, including fishing, near the Mariana Trench area. Because of this, travelers by boat have to gain permission from the federal government to travel from one island to another.

Gourley does not trust Pew since their last proposal back in 2008, which led to former President George W. Bush declaring the Mariana Trench as a marine national monument, limiting the residents of nearby islands access to open waters.

In his letter to Obama, Gourley said, “Pew has again come to the Marianas and is making the same promises they made in 2008—promises they cannot guarantee. We are being told that the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument needs yet another layer of federal bureaucracy to add to an already ineffective management system comprised of two other federal agencies.

“Mr. President, what we don’t need is more federal management authorities meddling in the [marine monument]. What is needed is for us to work with the current federal management authorities and hold them to a higher standard,” wrote Gourley.

Gourley shared with Saipan Tribune that he is skeptical about the proposal.

“Pew does not have a good track record on the Marianas. I don’t particularly like Pew, and I think anything what they promote must be looked at carefully because I don’t trust Pew,” he said.

“I listened to [Pew’s] campaign during the Humanities Half-Hour the other day and what they’re saying is all nice and good, but it’s what they’re not saying that bothers me,” he added.

Gourley questioned whether the additional bureaucratuc overlay on the Marianas Trench marine national monument is beneficial overall.

“The underlying question that should be answered by sanctuary proponents is what are the specific benefits that would be realized from a sanctuary status that currently isn’t being provided through resource protection measures provided by the Marine National Monument,” he said.

Gourley claims Pew wants to limit access to people in the Marianas archipelago under the pretense of conservation.

“[Pew] wants to have over half of the entire exclusive economic zone in the Marianas archipelago locked up—no mining and no fishing. This is not what they are telling people,” he said.

“Some people think it’s a good thing, some people think it’s a bad thing. Why would you want to stop people from fishing and mining?”