‘Rota’s resources of national importance’

An initial report of the Honolulu Office-Pacific West Region of the National Park Service says that Rota has natural and cultural resources that are of national significance and appear to meet criteria as potential additions to the national park system.

The report, which was presented Thursday by Rota senators and Lands and Natural Resources planning consultant Greg Schoer, said that Rota, the only major island in the Marianas to be spared the destruction of World War II and its aftermath, “contains the most striking and best preserved examples of a 3,000-year-old cultural tradition.”

It said that Rota has some of the most significant prehistoric sites in the Marianas. These include the ancient latte and pre-latte villages at Mochon/Maya and Alaguan Bay, latte stone quarry, and pictograph caves containing ancient drawings of sea turtles, fish, birds, and other symbols. Archaeologists recognized these sites as some of the most important archeological sites in Micronesia, and they are the largest intact vestiges of the Chamorro culture.

Further, it said that Rota has the largest unaltered and contiguous native forests remaining.

Compared with Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, which have second-growth forest typically containing non-native and invasive plant species, Rota forests support numerous species of birds, plants, invertebrates, and other rare species.

Two of bird species, the Rota bridled white-eye and Mariana crow, and two of three tree species (Serianthes nelsonii and Osmoxylon mariannesis) are found nowhere in the world and are now listed as endangered.

The Marianas fruit bat, “which was once abundant in most islands, is now considered rare on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam.”

“ We are happy that representatives from the federal government saw what we on Rota have known all along—that Rota is a jewel,” said Rota Legislative delegation chair Diego M. Songao.

He said the report complements other reports that Rota’s natural and archeological resources are some of its most valuable and unique economic assets.

For his part, Schoer said that “properly conserving, managing, and marketing these assets would provide an important cornerstone for a sustainable tourism industry on Rota as well as benefit tourism on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam.”

Songao said the NPS report came following the NPS Honolulu Office’ representatives on-site reconnaissance survey last year.

In response to a request from the delegation, Pacific Area director Bryan Harry and park planner Gary Barbano of the NPS’s Honolulu Office, together with Schoer and some other local representatives, flew to Rota in June 2004 to conduct the survey.

Based on that visit, the Honolulu Office has found that the national park alternative would be best for Rota.

“The NPS, with its long tradition of operating national parks, appears to be the most logical managing entity to protect the large natural area and the significant cultural sites as well as to provide for their enjoyment by residents and visitors,” it said.

In its website, the Honolulu Office said that the findings contained in the draft report should not be construed as representing either the approval or the disapproval of the National Park Service or the Secretary of the Interior.

The NPS will hold a public meeting in Rota on the evening of June 3 to discuss their findings and gather additional comments.