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.

Federal Register

Thanks to Angelo for the link: you can read the notice in the Federal Register here

A Monumental News Note

I've put up a recap of links that relate to the CNMI's marine monument and the campaign Friends of the Monument waged for its designation at my personal blog. You can see it here.

If you have links I've missed that you think I should add, please let me know.

Will It Hurt Our Economy?

The LA Times carried a report that First Lady Laura Bush supports the creation of a marine national monument here, but Vice President Dick Cheney opposes it because it "will hurt our economy."

There are some important considerations when assessing the economic impact of creating a marine national monument here.



1. Right now, we have little to no economic activity in the proposed protected area going on. The waters around Uracas, Maug, and Asuncion are not being fished. An earlier report from WESPAC suggested that the area is not a feasible or viable fishery. There is no mining going on in the proposed monument area. So stopping economic activity there now causes no change to what we have at present, and certainly no harm to our economy.

2. The future is speculative. For gamblers, the possibility that there may be some potential mining is "economic harm." For conservationists, the possibility of future damage to our marine life and eco-system is not only biological and geological harm, but economic harm. No one can prove the future, but we can look to the past to see what is likely.

* We know that the rest of the world's oceans have been harmed, that marine diversity is dwindling at an alarming rate, that pollution does not stay in one area. There is reason to want to take measures now to conserve what we have.

* We know that any minerals that may be desirable for mining would be at the southern part of the protected area, and not in the same place as some of the deep water, most unusual and unique life; we know that we can have different zones for the protected areas, so that mining could be allowable in some part of the protected area.

* We know that "no take" zones help marine life recover. While the protected area right now does not have the kind of marine life desireable or economically advantageous to fishermen, as the rest of the world's oceans are fished out, the last and least likely places will be tapped for whatever can be taken from them. If we don't protect some area, we'll have nothing left.

3. There are potential economic benefits that far outweigh any possible harm. We will get free world-wide press coverage, which will help our sagging tourism economy. We will get more scientists coming to study, and they will spend money here while present in the CNMI, and will help at our schools and college. We will get a Visitor Center, which will provide for some jobs, as well as giving tourists more to do while here and possibly extending their visits another day. We will get a boat that can be used for transportation to the northern islands, on the way to the marine protected area.

There are likely many more advantages that I have not mentioned. While economists can always argue with each other over specific assumptions made in their studies, it is clear that their are economic gains to be made from the designation, and few if any economic losses to be sustained.


If we do nothing, what economic benefit will we gain?
None. Nothing now. Only a gamble that sometime in the future there may be something that we can exploit and further ruin, changing our natural world to dollars.

If we have a marine national monument designated, we will get
* free worldwide press
* an improved chance for more visitors
* a Visitors Center, which adds a few jobs and entices longer visits by tourists
* greater educational opporutnities for students here
* and a portion of our world saved and conserved for our future generations.

Contributor Scubatripp - My Pledge

As a contributor to this blog I feel it important to introduce myself to the readers and outline why I support the monument concept as well as what I plan to do to help ensure that its ultimately good for the CNMI.

Who I am (scubatripp).
My name is Mike Tripp; I’m a 42-year-old, multi-professional, small business owner and health care employee living on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. I’m university educated with a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver Canada. I’m also a professional PADI SCUBA Instructor with over 18 years experience working in 8 different countries around the world while traveling and diving the waters of over a dozen more. I have been a nature lover and an outdoors person all of my life beginning with family vacations as a young boy that have left fond memories of travel through Canada and the USA including many national, provincial and state parks. I love the Discovery Channel and National Geographic type programming and believe that our environment, including the planet as a whole, is ultimately under threat from destructive human practices and overall population growth.

Why I support the Monument.
In a nutshell I support the monument because it will be good for the local economy especially the tourism sector and all other areas touched by the success of the only remaining core industry in the CNMI. It will also preserve a large area of our world’s ocean from destruction by mankind and therefore allow scientists from around the world (including the CNMI) to study its unique characteristics and species in as controlled a manner as possible for generations to come. The monument will help the CNMI become a 21st century world leader in terms of conservation while pushing the negative criticisms and stereotypes the CNMI carries from its past into the history books. In the end this will effectively clear the way for younger generations and upcoming leaders of a population instrumental in the world’s history to thrive under the US flag and an international spotlight dialed into the positive press. With the help of federal funding and the designation of a monument the people of the CNMI have an opportunity to protect and carry on a strong heritage of traditional conservation values that will maintain renewable resources for the benefit of future generations.

What I intend to do to support the monument.
First and foremost I will continue to do what I have been doing since this idea was first brought forward by the Pew Environmental Group many months ago. I will continue to ask questions and be involved in the discussions with those from all sides. I will continue to do my own research and look for the facts needed to back up or refute the statements made. I will continue to talk to local residents, business people and politicians in the hopes that my ideas and thoughts can help bring about the best possible situation for all those affected by the monument designation itself as well as the mutually agreed upon rules and regulations that will ultimately govern how the waters are used and accessed. In the end, whether the monument becomes reality or not, I will continue to be an advocate for our oceans by continuing to educate those willing to listen as to the wonders of what lies beneath the surface and why protecting and respecting what we have, right here in our back yard, is so important to human survival. I owe this to my kids and to yours.


As the process of discussion with the federal government has just gotten started after many months of advocacy by both the pro and con forces I will also refer the reader to a number of articles I have already written on the subject. These links lead you to my own blog at www.saipanscuba.blogspot.com and to the local news papers the Tribune and the Variety.


April 25th 2008
Act Two - Northern Island Marine Monument

Friday, May 9, 2008
Marine Monument - Why Kill It Now?*

Monday, May 12, 2008
Marine Monument – Personalities & Politics*

Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Marine Monument - Lets Talk eh!*

Friday, May 16, 2008
Marine Monument - The Benefits / It's Not All About the Fishing*

Thursday, May 22, 2008
Marine Monument - Get Informed

Friday, May 23, 2008
Marine Monument - Ruth's Round Up

Saturday, May 24, 2008
Bush Eyes Unprecedented Conservation Program - NPR Report

Monday, July 14, 2008
Coral Triangle Meet the Trench Monument

Friday, July 18, 2008
Pew's Role Defined

Reasons I Support the Marianas Trench Monument Proposal

I agree with every single reason listed in support of the Marianas Trench Monument. Most significant from my perspective is the need for conservation and protection of our fragile marine environments.

Please voice your support for the proposal to create a Marianas Trench Monument.

Please raise your concerns in the comment section below, so that we can discuss them. Most of the concerns I've heard expressed by people I've spoken to are based on misinformation about the proposal, the role of Pew Charitable Trust's Ocean Legacy, the law, or all of these. Let's discuss it all.

My support for the Marianas Trench Monument is both passionate and rational. Where do you stand?