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Cabinet-level talks seen on marine monument
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Posted on Oct 24 2008
Cabinet-level talks are expected on the White House’s controversial marine monument proposal, as the U.S. military has expressed interest in the islands being eyed for the preservation effort, according to the chief of the Guam military buildup program.
David Bice, director of the Joint Guam Program Office, met with local lawmakers yesterday to brief them on developments on the planned transfer of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the Marianas. Although the focus of the relocation is in Guam, the program involves using Tinian as a military training site.
During the meeting, Bice said the U.S. Marines is looking at Pagan and other available areas throughout the CNMI for additional training capacity. Accordingly, the U.S. Department of Defense is concerned about how these plans, as well as U.S. naval operations, might be affected by the proposed designation of the CNMI’s northernmost three islands as a marine monument.
Discussions about these concerns began before James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, visited the Commonwealth earlier this week to gather public input on the proposed marine monument, Bice said.
He added, “The Department of Defense has not offered a formal opinion [on the proposed marine monument]. But there will definitely be Cabinet-level discussions on this in the coming weeks.”
The Bush administration proposes to preserve 115,000 square miles of ocean encompassing the islands of Maug, Asuncion and Uracus, an effort to affirm the president’s so-called “blue legacy” of marine conservation. Federal agencies are now conducting an assessment of the waters at issue—one of three sites now under federal review for the designation—to determine whether they are suitable for a monument.
