AG stops eviction of Marpi ranchers

Owners of cattle ranches in Marpi are given a stay in the eviction order issued two weeks ago by the government, which is supposed to take effect today.

Attorney General Herbert D. Soll said yesterday his office is now looking into the appeal by lawmakers to rescind the order, while deferring action to boot ranchers out of the area in northern Saipan.

“When [lawmakers] comment on particular issue, we have sympathetic view towards what they have requested,” he told reporters in an interview.

The notice was given to ranchers last Aug. 2, leaving them with barely two weeks to relocate their cattle — a period that lawmakers have claimed is not enough and could prove to be costly.

“[By giving out the notice] doesn’t mean that any action has been taken but we will certainly look at it with intention to understanding why the Legislature is concerned,” said Mr. Soll.

Lt. Gov. Jesus R. Sablan backed attempt by the legislators to delay the removal as he welcomed their request to the administration to identify an alternative site where the mitigation bank can be established.

“I hope the appropriate agencies… will look into this matter,” he said in a separate interview. “Cattle ranches and environment and wildlife habitat can co-exist.”

The House of Representatives last week adopted a joint resolution asking Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and three government agencies to find ways to help the cattle ranchers.

Sponsored by House Floor Leader Oscar M. Babauta, HJR 12-15 stemmed from the plan by the government to implement its Mitigation Bank Agreement within the Marpi forest area.

Federal requirement

The development of the Saipan Upland Mitigation Bank began in 1996 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service disclosed that it would begin enforcing the provisions of the Federal Endangered Species Act in the CNMI.

Mitigation or conservation banks are designed to enhance habitat protection for species that are threatened or at risk of extinction. These provide alternative to the standard practice of having each developer or development project create and manage individual mitigation areas.

The 393-hectare facility in Marpi will make it easier for developers to meet their mitigation obligations in exchange for a fee paid to the local government.

While the CNMI and USFWS still need to agree on certain requirements concerning the bank as well as on a legal accord to establish the program here, the island government is pushing with the plan in order to expedite various development projects that have slowed down pending its creation.

The Division of Public Lands has even offered a new agricultural grazing permit for up to five hectares to the cattle ranchers to encourage them to relocate from Marpi to a new farm site.

But the resolution noted that such offer of assistance has failed to factor in “tremendous financial burden” to the ranchers if they relocate, such as mobilization and putting up a new fence.

Although it won’t have a force of law, the resolution strongly recommended to the governor, AGO, DPL and the Department of Lands and Natural Resources to identify an alternative site for the implementation of the Mitigation Bank Agreement.

“[I]f the government cannot find a suitable alternative site… then it should reconsider a more reasonable dateline of eviction and financial assistance to the cattle ranchers,” added the resolution which is now up for Senate vote.

In a recent conference held on Saipan, local residents expressed concerns that the bank’s long delay is impeding prospective developers from pushing through with its expansion projects in lieu of a CNMI and a USFWS signed agreement.