Pew, outsiders, and online petitions

I was recently made aware that a Hawaii-based communications and marketing consultant (i.e., Scott Foster and Associates) and a coalition of Hawaiian environmental groups (i.e., Western and Central Pacific Network) are joining the Pew Charitable Trusts in attempting to create the perception of broad-based support for the Pew-proposed marine monument in the CNMI. I naively assumed the Monument proposal would be addressed from a local viewpoint; however Pew apparently feels the need to involve outsiders to bolster their failing campaign.

The Western and Central Pacific Network is a coalition of environmental groups based in Hawaii with most of its members receiving, directly or indirectly, Pew funding (my understanding). Mr. Scott Foster is a media consultant who was hired directly by the Pew Charitable Trust during the NWHI Monument campaign and is now the spokesperson for the W&CPN. There is an interesting letter of appreciation to Mr. Foster from the Pew Charitable Trusts (Mr. Jay Nelson) at http://www.scottfoster.org/doc/PewLOR.jpg.

As the communications director of the recently formed W&CPN, Mr. Scott Foster sent out an e-mail dated May 13, 2008 soliciting outside (i.e., worldwide) support for the proposed National Monument in the Mariana Islands. He was asking for people’s support of the marine monument by voting on the recent Saipan Tribune online poll and the online petition titled “Protect the Mariana Trench” (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/marianatrenchmonument). Interestingly in his e-mail, Mr. Foster refers to those people who oppose the marine monument as “the forces of evil”. I found his comment quite disturbing…..

This is the same media tactic that Pew, their advocates, and paid consultants, including Mr. Scott Foster and the W&CPN members, used when they took the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands away from the Hawaiian people. Results from using these web-based activist sites will be used by Pew to show broad based support for the NMI Monument. Of course, it goes without saying the great majority of those voting in these petition-mills has no idea of the facts surrounding the issues, nor has a vested interest in the outcome.

How many times have we heard the claim of the many thousands of comments received during the public comment period when the NWHI Sanctuary management plan was being developed? As an example of what I am talking about, I wanted to share with you the results of an analysis conducted on public comments received by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Council) addressing draft fishing regulations (among other related issues) for the NWHI National Marine Sanctuary. This data was presented at the 126th Council meeting held in Honolulu on 15-17 March 2005. A total of 14,356 e-mails were submitted under the public response category “Form Letters Generally In Favor of Strongest Protection Possible, Consistent with the Executive Orders, National Marine Sanctuaries Act and the Goals and Objectives for the Proposed Sanctuary.” With the impressive public response to draft management plans, one could assume there was an outpouring of genuine interest from the Hawaiian communities in determining the direction of resource management. However, when you look at the details, only 419 e-mails (3 percent) were from Hawaii, while the remaining 13,937 e-mails (97 percent) originated from the U.S. mainland and foreign countries. Basically, non-Hawaiians were telling Hawaii how they wanted Hawaii to manage their marine resources! Of course this is no accident. These numbers are easily orchestrated by certain agenda-driven enviro-extremist groups via online polls where e-mail comments are sent automatically by the click of a mouse.

This is exactly what is going on right now with the proposed marine monument in the CNMI. With respect to the current online petition “Protect the Mariana Trench”, as of 2200 hours on May 21, 2008, a total of 61 people clicked their mouse to show their support for President Bush to permanently designate a 115,000 square-mile “no-take” marine preserve (= Monument) in the CNMI. The breakdown of voters, by region, follows: elsewhere in the U.S. (72 percent); CNMI/Guam (15 percent); and foreign countries (13 percent). How do you think Pew will use this data?

I believe this petition is an insult to the people of the Mariana Islands. I would not want to be the one to present this petition to our Governor or elected representatives.