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

A visitors’ center worthy of the marine monument

As one of the framers of our Constitution, my father knew the value of our natural resources to our culture and argued for permanent protections for Mañagaha, and the three northernmost islands of Asuncion, Maug, and Uracas. He taught me that it is the responsibility of every indigenous person to ensure that these islands are passed down to the next generation in the same condition in which they were passed down to us.

That’s why I worked so hard alongside The Friends of the Monument and The Pew Charitable Trusts to help create the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

It is an indisputable fact that the people of the Northern Marianas support environmental protection and it is no wonder that there was such a tidal wave of support for the creation of the Marianas Trench Monument.

When the monument was declared on Jan. 6, 2009, then governor Benigno R. Fitial, then Senate president Pete P. Reyes, and then House speaker Arnold Palacios led in celebration 6,000 local residents, 500 students, and 206 businesses. As I recall, Governor Fitial was so elated he hugged President George W. Bush right after the signing.

In a letter to the editor, former representative Cinta M. Kaipat wrote that the goals of the monument were to “create federally funded local jobs, give a needed boost to our struggling tourism industry, bring positive worldwide attention to our shores, and most importantly, protect three of our islands and their surrounding waters for generations to come.” (Saipan Tribune, May 1, 2008)

Much has been accomplished toward achieving these goals. In the last five years there has been positive media attention for the islands, renewed interest in scientific exploration of the area, and a federally funded office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration opened in Garapan. But work still needs to be done. Everyone must come together to move ahead with creating the visitor center and bringing to fruition the economic promise of this impressive marine reserve.

In 2009, the same year the monument was declared, Delegate Gregorio Sablan earmarked $220,000 in the fiscal year 2010 Consolidated Appropriation Act (HR 3288) for the design of our visitor center. It was a proud moment. Our first representative in the U.S. Congress passed one of his first bills.

The Friends and Pew worked with the delegate’s office and with NOAA, the recipient of the funding, to draft a grant to the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources to “develop a process for engaging input from the public to create a visitor and education center that will incorporate our existing marine protected areas and the new Marianas Trench National Monument.” (Delegate Sablan, letter to DLNR Secretary Ignacio Dela Cruz, Dec. 30, 2009)

The plan was to develop an architectural blueprint so that Delegate Sablan, along with the Friends and Pew, could ask Congress to fund the construction. Although progress stalled at the local level, today we have a new governor, a new DLNR secretary, and from what I understand from media reports, soon we’ll have a new architectural plan for a monument visitor center. This is excellent news, and everyone who had a hand in its completion deserves congratulations.

Soon it will be time to take the plan to Washington, and I know the Friends, Pew and our elected officials will do all they can to help. But there is no guarantee that federal funding will be available. In the meantime, the Friends continue to work with the community on outreach and education. Pew has supported these efforts and continues to engage with CNMI leaders at the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures, Micronesian Chief Executive Summit, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.

The people of the Northern Mariana Islands should be proud of what we have accomplished. From the Micronesia Challenge, to the Marianas Trench Monument, and most recently our leadership in global shark conservation, the world is taking notice. Let’s welcome them with a visitor center worthy of these efforts.

Angelo Villagomez is with The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C.

There is bipartisan support for a Monument visitor center in the NMI

Reprinted from Congressman Kilili's e-Newsletter, Friday, March 17, 2011:


There is bipartisan support for a Monument visitor center in the NMI — I want to thank the sixteen Members of Congress — from both sides of the aisle — who signed on to be original co-sponsors of H.R. 1207, authorizing construction of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument visitor center in the Northern Marianas. My bill envisions a multi-purpose facility for the interpretation, public education and enjoyment of the marine environment within the Monument and fulfills the promise of President Bush’s Executive Order creating this vast protected area. Don Young (R-AK) and Dale Kildee (D-MI), both second in seniority in their respective parties on the Natural Resources Committee, agreed to be co-sponsors again. H.R. 1207 is a revision of a bill I introduced in the last Congress that responds to heightened concerns about federal spending. I believe we can decrease costs without comprising the design and functionality of the facility. Either federally-managed or donated land in the Northern Marianas will be used. The Secretary of Interior will decide on the appropriate location for the facility.

$500,000 for Marianas Trench Marine National Monument Visitor’s Center

Taken from NMI Congressman Kilili's weekly newsletter:

Appropriators approve $500,000 for Marianas Trench Marine National Monument Visitor’s Center -The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment & Related Agencies unveiled its fiscal 2011 spending bill yesterday. Included in the markup bill was my request for funds toward the construction of a Marianas Trench Marine National Monument Visitor’s Center in the Northern Mariana Islands. The $500,000 earmark will be added to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service construction budget and may be used for site planning, architectural engineering, and the design of the Monument Visitor Center. I am very grateful to Chairman Jim Moran and the members of the Subcommittee for their help in fulfilling the commitment the White House made in establishing the Monument—that it would benefit the people of the Northern Mariana Islands. I also very much appreciate the support of Congresswoman Bordallo, who asked the Subcommittee for Monument funding for the Marianas. We can be sure that expanding public awareness and knowledge of the Monument's geologic and marine wonders will be beneficial to the entire Marianas region. As with the other $1.475 million in earmarks I requested, which have already been approved in committee, the latest $500,000 is just the beginning of the formal legislative process. Having these requests included in the bill is a major step, but not a guarantee of final approval. [emphasis added]

Yes to Marine Monument on Rota and US troops' relocation to Tinian

From the Saipan Tribune:

Marine Monument on Rota

S.R. 17-16, which expresses the Senate's support to the establishment of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument visitors center on Rota, also saw the clash of opinions between Crisostimo and all the other senators.

Crisostimo wanted the Marine Monument visitors center to be built on Saipan, or both on Saipan and Rota. He said Saipan is a more economically viable location for the center, because Saipan has direct flights to and from other destinations, and that it would be cheaper for tourists to come to Saipan than Rota.

Ayuyu, co-author of S.R. 17-16 along with Taimanao, said putting the visitors center on Rota is a better option because of the island's eco-tourism industry and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife plans to designate about 400 hectares of land on Rota for fish and wildlife habitat conservation.

“You make me feel that Rota is not part of the Commonwealth. Don't deny us something that is positive for us,” Ayuyu told Crisostimo. Ayuyu is also chairman of the Rota Legislative Delegation.

Senate President Paul A. Manglona (R-Rota) clarified that funding for the Marine Monument visitors center will come from the federal government.

Eight senators voted “yes” on S.R. 17-16, while Crisostimo voted “present.”

Marianas Trench Visitors Center

Alexie Zotomayor, one of the Friends of the Monument and the author of Boon or Bane, had a letter to the editor appear in the Saipan Tribune today.

Rebranding the CNMI as a destination

With the establishment of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument the CNMI has the opportunity to rebrand itself as a travel destination.

Although it is not a fully protected marine reserve, the monument is one of the world’s largest protected areas. This in itself is not something that will attract tourists to our shores. We have to give people a reason to want to visit the monument and our islands.

Saipan could sell itself as "The Gateway to the Mariana Trench." The stores in Garapan could sell t-shirts that read, "I dove the Marianas Trench." Maybe one day submersibles could take tourists to the underwater eruptions off the coast of Rota.

This will require a lot of work, and communities, businesses, and the government will have to contribute to the change.

One of the first steps toward this rebranding is for the federal government to build a Marianas Trench Marine National Monument visitors center. Half-museum, half-aquarium, the visitors center could and should be one of the premier tourism destinations in the Pacific.

I hope that our leaders on Capital Hill and in Washington, D.C. are working with the federal government to bring the visitors center to Saipan.

Alexie Villegas Zotomayor
Chinatown, Saipan

There is a concern among certain people that a lot of the benefits of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument will end up in Guam because the monument boundaries extend into some of the Federal waters close to Guam. The Bush Administration, through his Council of Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton, promised the CNMI that they would have a seat at the table (check), untold worldwide media attention (check), a visitors center, a research/enforcement boat, and federal jobs.

The NOAA Sanctuaries people in Hawai'i know about these promises because during the campaign the Friends of the Monument sent them copies of every letter they wrote. Since we assumed that NOAA Sanctuaries would manage the monument, nobody took the time to do any work with anybody at US Fish & Wildlife Service, so they probably have no idea what conversations took place during the process to create the monument. The situation is also complicated by the fact that the key people we worked with in the Bush Administration have since been replaced by the Obama Administration. Some of the key players haven't even been replaced yet, either, like the Secretary of Commerce.

The Friends of the Monument consider themselves the "guardians" of the Marianas Trench and they are going to work hard to ensure that the benefits promised to the CNMI come to fruition.