Taisakan urges delay in marine monument plan

Northern Islands Mayor Valentin I. Taisakan is urging President Bush to delay for six years any progress on the Pew Charitable Trust’s proposal to establish a national marine monument in the Commonwealth while local environmentalists are touting a newly released economic analysis of the plan.

In a June 6 letter to Bush shared with the Saipan Tribune, Taisakan said it is vital for local people to understand how the project will impact fisheries, ocean resources and tourism.

Taisakan asked the president to “give the people of the Northern Mariana Islands the same time period given to the people of the State of Hawaii to study the negative and positive effect of having to designate a permanent National Marine Monument within CNMI waters.”

In addition, the mayor requested that federal authorities enter into talks on the issue with the local government under Article IX Section 902 of the Commonwealth’s Covenant, a suggestion applauded by local Pew Trust coordinator Angelo Villagomez as a step forward.

It took six years for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument to be declared a national marine monument, Taisakan said. “And that was the time period given to the people of the State of Hawaii and the native Hawaiians to be educated about that project.”

Pew’s proposal has proven highly controversial among some local residents and lawmakers, in addition to seeing opposition from CNMI Gov. Benigno Fitial.

Critics say the plan will bar the CNMI government from managing the waters at issue and lead to strict federal prohibitions on activities like fishing and mining. But backers of the idea say the monument will preserve a sensitive ecosystem, create jobs and draw millions of dollars to the Commonwealth.

The proposed site of the monument covers a 115,000 square mile area in the Commonwealth’s northern islands.

Under the American Antiquities Act of 1909, Bush could establish the monument without consulting the people of the Commonwealth, Taisakan noted. Yet “it is only fair” for the president to give local people the same the six-year period to understand the full scope of the plan, he said.

“As I understand it, a referendum was not conducted to show whether the majority of the people of the State of Hawaii and/or the native Hawaiians supported the establishment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. However, the fact of the matter is that the people of the State of Hawaii and the native Hawaiians were given six years to be educated and the opportunity to know and understand more about the project,” Taisakan said.

Declaring the national monument without the consultation of the people of the Commonwealth would not be in the “spirit of the Covenant,” he added.

Proponents of the plan, however, are hopeful that a just-released economic analysis of it will assuage many fears surrounding its impact. Excerpts of the Pew-funded analysis, conducted by University of Guam economist Dr. Thomas Iverson, suggested last week that the Commonwealth could see an estimated $333 million economic boost over the next several years should the president establish the monument.

The full report, provided by the organization on Monday, provides a more detailed picture of the monument’s potential costs and benefits, and the methods the study employs to reach its conclusions.

Assuming a 2-percent increase in general tourism due to the monument, $1.67 million in federal funding and $4 million in research and “high-end” eco-tourism spending, the analysis estimates the monument could bring $10.87 million in direct spending to the Commonwealth each year. In addition, the monument could create roughly 378 jobs—fewer than a previously reported estimate—including 353 tourism jobs, the report says.

The analysis acknowledges that the monument would come with some six figure costs to the Commonwealth, mostly due to lost opportunities stemming from the preservation of the region’s fishing assets and paying government staff to manage the monument.

However, one possible source of lost revenue not included in these estimates is the potential money to be gained in the future through undersea mining, a point the analysis acknowledges, noting that such mining practices are still in the early stages of development.

At the office of Gov. Benigno Fitial, spokesman Charles Ruyes stressed the point that the monument could force the Commonwealth to give up such opportunities. The Fitial administration remains “very skeptical” of the Pew foundation’s plan. “You have to look at the costs in terms of lost opportunity,” Ruyes said “We have to be very careful about what we’re giving up.”

Despite this, Pew’s Villagomez notes the Commonwealth already lacks authority under federal law to mine the sea floor, and that any mining activity would require negotiation with federal authorities. Villagomez also took issue with the suggestion that federal authorities should wait six years to establish the monument.

“Six years is much too long,” he said. “We’re going to pick our delegate in Congress in a few months. The CNMI has made decisions much faster than six years.”

Dr. Iverson will be on hand today at an 11:45 am Rotary Club meeting to be held at the Hyatt Regency Saipan in Garapan.