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Guam governor opposes monument plan
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Posted on Oct 29 2008
Gov. Felix Camacho of Guam is advising a key Bush administration official against the White House’s proposal to preserve a vast swath of ocean water in the Mariana Islands as a national marine monument, saying the effort requires more time and more study.
Camacho, in an Oct. 27 letter to White House Council on Environmental Quality chief James Connaughton, says he opposes “a sudden declaration of a monument or conservation status” in the Marianas and a review of the cultural and economic consequences of the proposal is warranted before it moves forward.
Moreover, Camacho suggested the White House still has to weigh how the American military’s work in the region might influence the plan and how it might impact the interests of local authorities in Guam and the CNMI.
“While the mission of the Department of Defense is crucial for national security and the Marianas Trench has high strategic military value, the designation of a monument without a complete assessment of Department of Defense operations and procedures would compromise the ultimate intent and purpose of a monument—the protection and conservation of marine resources,” the letter says. “Furthermore, if a monument should be established, it is crucial that the interests of the Government of Guam and [the CNMI] be incorporated into preliminary designs and studies.”
Camacho’s letter comes a day after Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) wrote to the White House and also called the monument plan into question, saying the Bush administration should consider conservation efforts under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, which require public and business sector input, rather than unilaterally designating the waters at issue as a monument.
Local leaders who have previously taken a hardline stance against the monument, including Gov, Benigno Fitial, have recently softened their position on it in the wake of talks with Connaughton on Saipan last week.
Fitial’s spokesman, Charles Reyes, has said so long as the plan includes measures that could restore the CNMI’s control over near-shore ocean resources, the local government is “more open” to continuing talks with the White House. However, local leaders have yet to give the plan their support.
