Public urged to attend scoping meetings for marine monument

Friends of the Monument, a group of volunteers dedicated to the proper management of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, is urging the public to attend the scoping meetings designed to facilitate submission of public comments for the monument’s draft management plan.

The public scoping meeting, to be conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is scheduled on Saipan on Friday, Feb. 24, from 6pm to 8pm at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.

Similar meetings will also be held on Tinian on Feb. 25, from 4pm to 6pm at the Tinian Elementary School, on Rota on Feb. 27, from 6pm to 8pm at the Round House in Songsong Village, and in Guam on Feb. 29, from 6pm to 8pm at the University of Guam’s Anthony Leon Guerrero Multi-Purpose Room No. 129.

The management plan aims to guide resource managers for the long-term conservation and management programs for the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, which consists of roughly 96,714 square miles of submerged lands and waters of the Mariana Archipelago.

It includes three units: the Islands Unit that contains the waters and submerged lands of Farallon de Pajaros, Maug, and Asuncion out to 50 nautical miles; the Volcanic Unit, which has 21 submerged volcanic features; and the Trench Unit, which contains the submerged lands within the Trench.

“I encourage the whole community to come in and attend this meeting,” Friends of the Monument chair Ignacio “Ike” Cabrera told Saipan Tribune. “It’s very, very important because this is the start of the monument.”

Cabrera said the meeting will help the public understand “what really is going on” about the national marine monument established by President George W. Bush through Presidential Proclamation 8335 on Jan. 6, 2009.

While the Friends of the Monument has yet to make an official comment on the draft management plan, Cabrera pointed out that it is the younger generation who should be at the meeting as the marine monument was pushed because of them.

“I really encourage the people to attend, especially the students,” said Cabrera.

Comments for the draft management plan can also be sent by email with the subject line “Marianas Trench MNM” to MTMNM@noaa.gov, by fax to (808) 973-2941 or by mail addressed to Heidi Hirsh NOAA, NMFS 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., #1110 Honolulu, HI 96814.

For more information about the monument, go to http://www.fws.gov/marianastrenchmarinemonument and http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/MNM/mnm_index.html.