Marine monument plan proves divisive for NMI

One of the CNMI’s most precious possessions—the three northernmost islands of Maug, Asuncion and Uracas—divided the CNMI community in 2008, following a proposal to make these specks of land a national marine conservation area.

The plan is for President Bush to designate the three uninhabited islands and the waters surrounding them as a national marine monument, making it off-limits to commercial fishing and mineral exploration. The area teems with life and as yet to be discovered new species of marine creatures.

The issue became a hot item not only in the political arena but also in radio and television talk shows, in coffee shops, private offices, at public forums and at homes. Articles and comments and even editorial items hit the front pages of publications, not only on Saipan but also in the U.S. mainland.

President Bush is set to decide whether to approve or reject the proposal before he turns over the White House to President-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20. That leaves Bush just 19 days from today to make the decision.

First Lady Laura Bush is supporting the project while Vice President Dick Cheney is on the other side of the fence. The Pew Charitable Trusts has been spearheading the campaign in the CNMI, with Pew manager Matt Rand saying the marine monument would bring much media attention from all over the world and create jobs for many local residents.

In October, Bush sent to Saipan his representative, James Connaughton, chair of the Council for Environmental Quality, to get an update and feedback on the issue. Connaughton made an aerial view of the islands and met with different sectors of the community, including top government officials.

At home, government leaders including Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and most members of the Legislature oppose the ambitious plan. In a letter to Pew project director Jay Nelson, Fitial said that, although he appreciates Pew’s interest in the CNMI, “the government must fully consider all options and decide carefully, prudently, and strategically.”

The debates on the pros and cons of the project gave birth to the project’s most ardent supporter, the Friends of the Monument. The group launched a signature campaign and claimed to have garnered some 6,000 supporters for the plan. The CNMI has a voting population of 10,000.

The group’s vice chair, former congressman Andrew Salas, even went to Washington D.C. to ask Bush to further widen the scope of the project. He said the group wants the CNMI proposed national marine monument to be even bigger than the 140,000 square miles monument that was established in Hawaii.

At the House of Representatives, a resolution calling on Bush to drop the proposal had been adopted. House Speaker Arnold Palacios has strongly spoken out against it.

The lawmakers believe that such monument will limit access to these islands to researchers and tourists and fear that it will eventually exclude a majority of the people of the CNMI and their descendants from access to this area.

“The people of the CNMI have a strong affinity with these islands and its surrounding waters, and have a deep sense of its connection to the culture, traditions and the unique identity of their people,” the resolution stated.

The Senate unanimously adopted the resolution earlier.

The lawmakers argued that there has been little dialogue between the U.S. and CNMI governments on the proposal.

Representatives Tina Sablan, Heinz Hofschneider, and Edward Salas voted against the resolution. Sablan argued that there is no rush to make the designation, and that the government and the community can negotiate the terms of the declaration if they so choose.

The Friends of the Monument insists that the marine monument proposal is an opportunity for the Commonwealth to be known for its environmental contribution to the world.

In an open letter to Bush, The Friends of the Monument said it acknowledges that people of the CNMI and the world have historically relied on the oceans for food and other resources; however, the group believes that the need for continued availability of precious, limited marine resources does not conflict with conservation. “

But Department of Public Lands Secretary John S. Del Rosario said that creating the monument is just like “surrendering a precious possession that our ancestors have inherited to us.”

During the 10th Micronesian Chief Executive’ s Summit in Pohnpei, the top leaders of the region have asked President George W. Bush to reject the proposal.

“While the merits of the specific designation are debatable, the process is unacceptable to all of our people,” states the letter, signed by FSM President Emanuel Mori, Guam Gov. Felix Camacho, Palau Pres. Tommy E. Remengasau, Marshall Islands President Litokwa Tomeing, Yap Gov. Sebastian Anefal, Pohnpei Gov. John Ehsa, Kosrae Gov. Robert Weilbacher, Chuuk Gov. Wesley Simina, and Fitial.

The Micronesian leaders believe that they have already voluntarily committed to the Palau government-led Micronesian Challenge, which calls to preserve 30 percent of near shore resources by 2020.

The leaders argued that they can preserve “our own environment and natural resources without undue interference from wealthy, influential groups and bureaucrats from Washington, D.C.”

Lawmakers in Guam have also expressed their opposition, saying the federal government is pursuing the issue “without either recognizing the indigenous native classification for descendants of CNMI inhabitants or providing an avenue for Guam’s self-determination process.”

The Guam lawmakers reiterated their belief that the islands of Micronesia are all communities that draw their economic livelihood, spiritual well-being and civic strength from their God-given, tropical ocean-based environments.

Bush’s proposal, they said, offers a protectionist and preservationist approach instead of sustainable use approach.

Chuck Sayon, who is currently the interim executive director of the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance and is a former American Memorial Park manager, said that at face value, the park monument is an important refuge for endangered fish species, scientific study and an exotic remote tourist destination.

“Ecosystem preservation and management easily identifies the direct benefits to community and Planet Earth, but does one realize the important indirect benefits to businesses and the local economy?” he asked.

He said that with a projected Fiscal Year 2029 Marianas National Marine Monument budget of $12 million, this translates into a staff payroll of approximately $5 million, and with the rest of the expenditures going to construction and maintenance projects.

“So in a nutshell, the Marianas Marine National Monument acts as an anchor to the scientific community, the Commonwealth’s marine education programs and the small but ever growing adventure tourist industry in Pagan,” Sayon noted.