To Senate President Pete P. Reyes
\n16th Commonwealth Legislature<\/p>\n
Article XIV, Section 2 of the Northern Marianas Constitution addresses two important concepts with respect to \u201cUninhabited Islands.\u201d First, it restricts the use of Managaha Island for \u201ccultural and recreational\u201d purposes only. Second, it identifies four islands to be \u201cmaintained as uninhabited places and used only for preservation,\u201d namely the islands of Maug, Uracas, Asuncion, Guguan.<\/p>\n
During the Second Northern Marianas Constitutional Convention of 1985, the Committee on Personal Rights & Natural Resources, of which I was a member, found that the islands of Uracas and Asuncion, two of the three islands in the proposed Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, are volcanically active and are generally unsuitable for permanent habitation. The Committee found that in their \u201cundisturbed state\u201d, these islands have acquired a \u201cunique flora and fauna\u201d and are \u201cwell suited for preservation or sanctuary status.\u201d<\/p>\n
We also found that \u201cin order to protect and preserve these unique biological characteristics, including the native wildlife and habitats, access to these islands must be controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Furthermore, we found that these islands warranted protections because they had not sustained \u201csubstantial environmental damage caused by feral pigs and goats.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, we found that \u201cmanagement or protection of fish could be addressed by an appropriate agency of the government if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The arguments I have heard in the media against the proposed Mariana Trench Marine National Monument all run counter to the intent of the writers of our beloved Constitution.<\/p>\n
You have heard from that the current administration does not support the preservation of these northern islands. They support \u201csustainable use,\u201d which conflicts with the Constitutional purpose to preserve these islands. <\/p>\n
You have heard that if a monument were declared we would have to \u201cask permission\u201d to go there. Our original intent in protecting those islands was for everyone to \u201cask permission.\u201d That is the best way to protect and preserve their unique biological characteristics.<\/p>\n
You have heard that there is no need to protect these islands because they are \u201cso beautiful, so lush.\u201d That is exactly why we intended to protect those islands in the first place. These islands are undisturbed and they are unique and they can serve as a source of population of wildlife to be used for restocking other islands where certain species, such as fruit bats and coconut crabs, have been depleted. They are also the last vestige of what the Marianas were like before the Spanish arrived.<\/p>\n
Finally, you have heard that this is nothing more than another \u201cfederal takeover.\u201d While our intent was to protect all the resources in the far north, we do not have jurisdiction or control over any of our surrounding waters. The Federal government has jurisdiction from the mean high water mark out to 200 nautical miles. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the federal agency focused on the condition of the oceans and NOAA Sanctuaries is the appropriate government agency for preservation of our marine resources, not NOAA Fisheries.<\/p>\n
I have attached a copy of the \u201cReport to the Convention by the Committee on Personal Rights & Natural Resources: Committee Recommendation No. 29\u201d for your reference. It will help you understand our constitution better.<\/p>\n
In closing, I urge you to support the proposed Mariana Trench Marine National Monument. It will fulfill the original intent of our constitution and benefit generations of Chamorros and Carolinians to come. <\/p>\n
Si Yu\u2019use Ma\u2019ase for your time and consideration.<\/p>\n
[B]Karl T. Reyes[\/B]
\n[I]Friends of the Monument[\/I]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Article XIV, Section 2 of the Northern Marianas Constitution addresses two important concepts with respect to \u201cUninhabited Islands.\u201d First, it restricts the use of Managaha Island for \u201ccultural and recreational\u201d purposes only. Second, it identifies four islands to be \u201cmaintained as uninhabited places and used only for preservation,\u201d namely the islands of Maug, Uracas, Asuncion, Guguan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126330\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}