Advisory council urged to make visitors center a reality

The Marianas Trench Monument Advisory Council finally adopted its long-awaited bylaws in governing the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument yesterday, even as concerned citizens and even a member of the council urged it to make the promised visitors center a reality.

Department of Land Natural Resources Secretary Arnold Palacios said that since the Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council and the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library hosted a forum on the monument, he has received a number of comments criticizing the council for the lack of updates on the visitors center.

Palacios, along with Ben Sablan and Frank Rabauliman, make up the CNMI’s representatives on the council.

Palacios said there’s been a lot of backlash from the community on the slow pace of economic benefits the federal government promised when former President George W. Bush declared the Marianas Trench part of its Blue Legacy.

“There’s been a lot of promises made to the community but so far we’re not able to pull it off…We should do it and, if not, let’s just fold camp and go home,” he said.

NOAA deputy regional administrator Lisa Croft shared Palacios’ sentiments, saying the council should now work together to make sure that the commitments made by the federal government is followed.

She also acknowledged that a lot of promises and commitments made by the federal government have been broken.

The council held its second meeting yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Saipan and among those who attended were Sablan, Rabauliman, Palacios, Department of Defense representative Roy Tsutsui, and representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, and other local and federal agencies.

In the comments portion of the meeting, former representative Rosemond Santos described the designation of the monument in 2011 as “modern day colonialism.”

She said the local community, especially the indigenous people of the CNMI, were not consulted when President Bush placed under federal protection 95,216 square miles of submerged lands and waters in various places in the Mariana archipelago as part of his Blue Legacy.

Cultural historian Genevieve Cabrera, meanwhile, urged the federal government to talk to the community instead of making decisions and policies behind their backs.

“If you show respect then respect will be shown back to you,” she said.

Another former lawmaker, William Torres, also told the council to consider the Northern Marianas College as the location of the monument visitors center.

Attaching the visitors center to the local community college would allow it to apply for federal grants and these will be a much-needed financial boost to NMC, he said.

The CNMI Legislature came out with a joint resolution in April, urging the council to designate Marpi as the site of the visitors center because of its easy access to tourists and residents alike.

Recently, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) made known his preference for the visitors center to be on Rota, to make the island the ecotourism hub of the Commonwealth.

Architect Herman Cabrera just finished a study that plans to use the old Japanese lighthouse on Navy Hill as the site of the visitors center.

Published in the Saipan Tribune

Marianas Trench Monument Advisory Council Meeting Sept. 12 at Hyatt Regency Saipan

The Marianas Trench Monument Advisory Council (MTMAC) is holding a meeting to provide advice and recommendations on the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument (Monument).

The meeting will be held on September 12, from 8:30am to 4pm at the Hyatt Regency Saipan, Chamolinian Conference Room.

The public is invited to attend the meeting and will have an opportunity to comment from 4pm to 5pm.

Members of the MTMAC and agency representatives from NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be available to answer questions and provide additional information on the planning process for the Monument.

New Secretary of Interior

Ken Salazar has been confirmed as the new Secretary of Interior. All cabinet positions have been filled except for the Secretary of Commerce, which is still vacant as Obama's November nominee, Governor Bill Richardson, withdrew from consideration.

The Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Commerce play key roles in the process of creating and managing the Marianas Trench National Marine Monument.

The proclamation designating the Marine Monument includes this language about authority:

The Secretary of the Interior shall have management responsibility for the monument, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, except that the Secretary of Commerce shall have the primary management responsibility, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to fishery-related activities regulated pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and any other applicable authorities.

The next two years will be dedicated to coming up with the management plan and implementing regulations.


Photo credit: NOAA, Jean Kenyon


To facilitate this process, there will be a Mariana Monument Advisory Council. The proclamation, as to this matter, reads as follows:

Advisory Council

The Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce, within 3 months of the date of this proclamation and after considering recommendations from the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish the Mariana Monument Advisory Council to provide advice and recommendations on the development of management plans and management of the monument. The Advisory Council shall consist of three officials of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and one representative each from the Department of Defense and the United States Coast Guard.

Members of the Advisory Council will be appointed for a term of 3 years by the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce after nomination by the head of the pertinent executive branch agency or, with respect to the officials of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, by the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Advisory Council will adopt such procedures as it deems necessary to govern its activities. Each participating agency shall be responsible for the expenses of its representative and the Departments of the Interior and Commerce shall be equally responsible for the costs of the Advisory Council.

Thus, The Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Commerce appoint the members of the Mariana Monument Advisory Council. But Governor Fitial nominates those members. He has nominated Benigno M. Sablan, a member of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council; Joaquin P. Villagomez, a former member of Wespac’s advisory panel; and Sylvan O. Igisomar, the director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife, as reported in the Marianas Variety.

The new Secretaries of Interior and Commerce will have to act on the nominations within 3 months. Although they will undoubtedly give serious weight to Governor Fitial's choices, they are not BOUND to appoint them. As noted above, the term for Advisory Council members would be for three years and at the critical beginning of the Monument.

Now is the time to let the Secretaries know what you think about these choices.

You can write to the Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar at

Ken Salazar
Secretary of the Interior
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240


If you need help sorting out your thoughts on the nominees, check out Angelo's post, Lil Hammerhead's thoughts, and my personal blog opinion for background.