It was a Success! Workshop on Building Board of Directors’ Skills - Provided by National Wildlife Refuge Mentors

In June, as a result of a successful application for mentoring assistance, we were visited by Cheryl Hart (also a Board member of the National Wildlife Refuge Association) and Barbara Volke through a grant sponsored by the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Friends Mentoring Program.. They provided an ambitious program over four days, covering board member duties, developing a vision and mission statement, as well as helping us develop an action plan to carry forward after the workshop. We were joined by Tammy Summers, the new Project Leader, currently stationed in Guam, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Mariana Islands Refuges and Monument Complex which includes the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument and its associated Refuges. Many of you may know Tammy as she has previously worked in CNMI on sea turtle conservation issues. We congratulate Tammy on her new position and are looking forward to collaborating with her and her staff on important ocean conservation issues facing the Marianas. 

After 10 years since the Monument designation, we are now working on updating our vision and mission statements and developing a strategic plan that will carry us through the next decade. Other action items include increasing our website and social media presence, and to continue to provide outreach programs for the community. Barbara and Cheryl will be helping to guide us for another 12 months as we work through our action items. Here are some of the comments from the participants of the Building Board of Directors’ Skills Workshop:

“The functional exercises for capturing everyone's point of view was useful and created animated discussion. As they say, the devil is in the details and the group exercises really helped bring a few things into focus. I especially enjoyed doing the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. Though I am familiar with this tool, it was great to have an outside facilitator structure the dialogue. It made for a better outcome. I would have liked a more tangible outcome, but the action item list at least gave us priorities for the many things we already knew that we need to address.”

“I liked that I was able to understand the organization better, and it helped me realize how I can help given my limited capacity."

“…what I liked the most about the workshop was the part where each one of us had to tell a story on why the listener has to support/join our cause or mission and try to persuade or convince them on our story.”

“I liked that I was able to join remotely even if it was only for part of the Program. I am excited to help with the grant writing so we can get some new projects going!”
“I was most excited about getting to become better acquainted with the members of the Friends of the Marianas Trench Monument. I am looking forward to working with them to inspire future CNMI marine scientists.”

“It was a privilege to work with the dedicated Friends of Marianas Trench Board members and the FWS Project Manager as one of their mentor team. They are passionate about their mission to protect this unique area and to help others develop a conservation ethic that will ensure its preservation for future generations. I sincerely hope others will join them in this critical endeavor.”

Who are the NWRA Friends? The NWRA Friends are among the most powerful voices that speak on behalf of their local refuges and the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) in their communities and even with decision-makers in Washington. The NWRA successfully mobilizes friends groups and private citizens to address the challenges facing our national wildlife refuges and marine monuments. The NWRA provides training workshops, communications networks, partnerships, and advocacy to help generate support for public lands and vital wildlife habitats at the local and national levels. According to NWRA, more than 230 Friends organizations work in support of wildlife refuges across the nation, with 36,000 volunteers contributing 1.4 million hours a year to the Refuge System. With Refuge System funding declining, the need to recruit and train additional volunteers is more pressing than ever! 

We are excited about bringing additional support from partnership activities with the NWRA Friends to CNMI in the future. As a result of another proposal submission to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, several board members of Friends of the Mariana Trench, along with our USFWS partner, Tammy, will be attending a peer-to-peer workshop in September to learn from and share our story with other Pacific Region-based Friends groups. 

Thanks to everyone for taking time from their personal schedules to help make our workshop possible. Special thanks to Barb and Cheryl for endeavoring to work with us with our complex circumstances. Thanks to Tammy for getting onboard quickly and making it to Saipan to attend. Thanks to Dave for securing the conference room. Thanks to Ike and Edson for the ice chest and drinks. 

Are you interested in joining us as we move forward? All you need is a love for the ocean and its abundant resources! There are no membership dues. Use our online membership inquiry form or contact us at marianamounment@gmail.com to apply for regular membership for the Friends of Mariana Trench. 

Marianas Trench Marine National Monument update

Email announcement sent by Laura Beauregard US-FWS on April 11,2013:

A multi-year, multi-agency planning process continues to develop a Monument Management Plan (MMP) for the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. As stated in Presidential Proclamation 8335, the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce are required to complete a MMP to guide the management of the monument’s resources. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working together in the development of the MMP, and in cooperation with the Secretary of Defense, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. I am pleased to announce the availability of our latest planning update. Planning Update 3 provides a summary of the comments and questions we received during the public scoping meetings on Saipan, Rota, Tinian, and Guam last year, along with the initial agency responses.

To download, please visit:
http://www.fws.gov/marianastrenchmarinemonument/planning.html

Contact Info:
laura_beauregard@fws.gov
Hawaiian & Pacific Islands NWRC
300 Ala Moana Blvd, Rm 5-231
Honolulu, HI 96850
808-792-9558

Refuge System Sets Goals for Next Decade

Friends of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument
to Join 1,200 at One of Nation’s
Largest Gatherings of Conservationists

Representing Friends of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument (FOMTM) Ignacio V. “Ike” Cabrera, Chairman and Laurie Peterka, Secretary, will be among 1,200 professionals and citizen conservationists who will hear from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who headed the federal response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and historian/author Douglas Brinkley at the National Wildlife Refuge System Conserving the Future conference in Madison, WI. The conference will be held July 11-14, when a new vision will be ratified to guide the Refuge System for the next decade.

The conference – one of the nation’s largest gatherings of conservationists — is the culmination of a months-long, highly transparent process to create a reinvigorated vision for the Refuge System. Over the past six months, Americans submitted more than 10,000 comments to the draft vision, posted online at http://americaswildlife.org, where more information about the vision and the conference is available.

Speakers will also include noted oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle; award-winning nature photographer Dewitt Jones who traveled the globe for National Geographic; MacArthur-winning environmental activist Majora Carter of the Bronx, New York; and Juan Martinez of Los Angeles, with the nonprofit Children & Nature Network and named by National Geographic as one of its Emerging Explorers.

FOMTM was among more than 100 nonprofit Refuge System Friends organizations at the conference. FOMTM formed in the Spring of 2008 to express the voice of the local community and consists of a cross-section of indigenous and resident people of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands who are dedicated to the conservation, preservation and protection of flora, fauna and geological features of the oceans; and the proper management of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. The organization was a recipient of a 2009 EPA Environmental Award for their community outreach work supporting marine protected areas. Currently, FOMTM follows and reports on progress of the steps outlined in the 2008 declaration.

The Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is the nation’s largest network of federal lands and waters dedicated to the protection of wildlife and the habitat on which it depends. The Refuge System is composed of 553 national wildlife refuges spanning about 150 million acres. More than 44 million people visit wildlife refuges each year.

The new vision will help the Refuge System implement the best wildlife conservation practices guided by the latest science. The Refuge System’s new vision recognizes the rapid social and environmental changes that have taken place over the last decade or so.

One idea slated for discussion: to establish an interagency team to improve habitat conservation and the conservation literacy of America, especially among the young.

FOMTM is attending the NWR conference to network with like-minded professionals and volunteers in order to bring whatever resources it can back to the local community. Any particular programs that may be launched as a consequence of participation will be announced at http://marianamonument.blogspot.com/, where you can also follow all other activities that FOMTM is involved on behalf of the community.

The Conserving the Future conference will also showcase a modern face of the federal government: Many conference proceedings will be live-streamed. Texting, mobile communications and social networking will all play essential communications roles.

The Refuge System will offset carbon emissions tied to conference travel with contributions to The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero program.

Planning Begins for Management of the Marianas Trench and Pacific Remote Islands

Federal officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the NOAA Fisheries Service are soliciting information, ideas, suggestions and concerns related to the development of management plans for the Marianas Trench and Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monuments. These management plans will guide management of these two unique marine national monuments for the next 15 years.

 

The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Pacific Remote Islands National Monument were created in January 2009 by President George W. Bush under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. Together, the two monuments include more than 182,000 square miles of ocean, coral reefs, submerged lands, islands and atolls and represent some of the most remote and pristine marine areas on Earth.

 

The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument consists of 95,216 square miles within three units: the Marianas Trench Unit, which is 1,100 miles long, 44 miles wide and includes only the submerged lands; the Volcanic Unit, which consists of circles (1 nautical mile radius) around 21 undersea mud volcanoes and thermal vents along the Mariana Arc and again, includes only the submerged lands; and the Islands Unit, which includes only the waters and submerged lands of the three northernmost Mariana Islands: Farallon de Pajaros or Uracas, Maug, and Asuncion. The Marianas Trench Unit and the Volcanic Unit are also managed as units of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

 

The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument spans 86,888 square miles and also incorporates seven national wildlife refuges: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll and Wake Atoll.

 

Public comments will be accepted until July 31, 2011. [Emphasis Added] Opportunities for additional public input will be announced throughout the planning process and public meetings may be scheduled [Emphasis Added] to help share information and obtain comments. Once draft plans are completed they will be released for additional public review and comment before being finalized. The plans will be revised every 15 years and will be reviewed annually.

 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration are cooperating in the development of the plans and will carry out their designated management roles under their respective authorities.

 

While other topics will likely be identified during public scoping, the following are among the preliminary issues that may be addressed during the development of draft management plans:

• Climate change impacts and adaptation
• Marine debris impacts and removal
• Invasive species prevention and control
• Other potential threats to the ecosystem (e.g. trespass; illegal fishing and shipwrecks, groundings and spills)
• Emergency response to natural and manmade disasters and natural resources damage assessments
• Habitat conservation and restoration
• Historic and cultural resources
• Public education and outreach
• Scientific exploration and research opportunities
• Developing an appropriate permitting program for activities within the monuments.

More information is included in two Notices of Intent to develop management plans published in the Federal Register on April 5, 2011.

 

For the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, please send written comments or requests for more information by any of the following methods:

• Email: MTMNM@noaa.gov
• Fax: 808-973-2941
• Mail: Heidi Hirsh, NOAA Fisheries Service, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., #1110, Honolulu, HI 96814

 

Additional information about the Monument and its two refuges is available at http://www.fws.gov/marianastrenchmarinemonument and http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/MNM/mnm_index.html

 

For the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, please send your written comments or requests for more information by any of the following methods:

• Email: Pacific_Reefs@fws.gov
• Fax: 808-792-9586
• Mail: Susan White, Project Leader, Pacific Reefs National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 5-231, Honolulu, HI 96850

 Additional information about the Monument and its seven refuge units is available at http://www.fws.gov/pacificremoteislandsmarinemonument and http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/MNM/mnm_index.html  

 

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov

 

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Visit us at http://www.noaa.gov or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/usnoaagov.

(PR - April 6, 2011: NMFS, NOAA, DOI, FWS)

A Bit about the USF&WS

Reposted from my blog (per Angelo's invitation):

Angelo has an interesting post on a plan to deposit "euro trash" in the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

We haven't been hearing enough lately about what's happening with the Monument. And this was not really good news. I suggested reporting on it to those in charge.

Remember who's in charge of the MTMNM? It's U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. And we've not been hearing anything about them lately.

So here's a tiny bit of news that I didn't see reported in our local newspapers (well, yes, it did make the Saipan Tribune, but I was gone from Saipan and didn't catch this...) President Obama has named a new director for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, subject to Senate confirmation. Sam D. Hamilton.

Ken Salazar, Interior Secretary, approves of the appointment. Mr. Hamilton also gets a thumbs up from two diametrically opposed groups: the National Wildlife Refuge Association (a conservation group) and "Ducks Unlimited" (a hunting group).

He's praised for his ability to balance competing interests--wildlife on the one hand and people on the other.

His record is not without problems. He has the weakest known record on enforcement of the Endangered Species Act, among all comparable officials, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. No wonder the hunters, anglers, and trappers like him!

Even more worrisome, in a 2005 survey of 1400 F&WS biologists, results from those working under Mr. Hamilton included the following:

"Nearly half (49%) of FWS respondents cited cases where "commercial interests have inappropriately induced the reversal or withdrawal of scientific conclusions or decisions through political intervention."

If this is not bad enough, it appears Mr. Hamilton also lacks experience with deep ocean environments. He helped with a (now defunct) congressional committee on merchant marines and fisheries. He's got some experience with fisheries and even with the Florida Everglades restoration. But even with this, his lack of ardor in protecting marine life, and concommitant lack of understanding of marine environments, seems evident.

For example, there was some criticism of the USFWS apparent failure to include relevant information about marine mammals--manatees--in an assessment approving of a new marina along the Orange River in Florida. And tourists were harrassing the manatees, which led to another complaint about USFWS's lack of enforcement of protections.

Perhaps this is the balance of interests he's known for?

Whether you agree with his philosophy on "balancing" competing "needs", there's no doubt Mr. Hamilton has a lot of experience, with many years at USF&WS. Yet none of his varied experience seems to be directly related to what will be at the heart of managing the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument--deep ocean ecology.

Which gets us back to that nitty gritty question: why USF&WS and not NOAA marine sanctuaries? aargh.

Join the USFWS Marianas Trench Marine Monument List

I'm posting this news from Angelo:

US Fish & Wildlife Service is the federal agency charged with managing the Marianas Trench Marine Monument. In order to help them with their initial local outreach during the upcoming scoping period, they are trying to build a contact list of interested residents.

If you are interested, the US Fish & Wildlife Service will add you to their contact list and will keep you up to date with news from the USFWS concerning the Marianas Trench Marine Monument. Send them an email at mtmnm@fws.gov and include your name, email, phone number, and mailing address.