Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 7, 1 July 2006 — Monumental decision [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Monumental decision

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By Derek Ferrar Public lnformation Specialist On lune 15, President Bush stunned environmentalists, government officials and fishing industry advocates alike with the surprise announeement that he was designating the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a permanent nahonal monument, with a ban on coimnercial fishing and other "extractive" uses, but allowanee for educational, research and Hawaiian cultural access. Until just prior to his proclamation, Bush had been expected to present draft regulations leading to designation of the region as a marine sanctuary, but classification as a "national monument" provides an even higher level of protection. And, unlike sanctuary status, it does not require a lengthy puhlie process. The creation of a national monument is at the sole discretion of the president and took effect as soon as Bush signed the proclamation. "As a marine national monument, the waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands will receive our nation's highest form of marine environmental protection," Bush said at a hurriedly arranged White House ceremony attended by Gov. Linda Lingle, members of Hawai'i's congressional delegation and others. "We will protect a precious natural resource. We will show our respect for the cultural and historical importance of this area. And we will create an important plaee for research and learning about how we ean be good stew-

ards of our oceans and our environment." World's biggest marine sanctuary At nearly 140,000 square-miles - bigger than many U.S. states - the new national monument is the nation's largest protected area and the biggest marine eonservation region in the world, topping even Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Extending some 1,200 miles long by 100 wide and encompassing more than 15 islands, atolls and banks, the Northwestern Islands region contains thousands of square miles of living coral reef - about 70 percent of all the reefs in U.S. territory - and is home to some 7,000 wildlife species, many of whieh are rare or endangered, and about a quarter of whieh are found nowhere else on earth. In addition to their vast ecological resources, several of the islands also contain historic cultural sites, including settlement sites on Nihoa and 33 probable religious shrines on Mokumanamana (Necker Island.) The new Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument - whieh Bush said will eventually be given a Hawaiian name - is eomposed of the federal waters that extend from three to 50 miles out from the islands. (The dry land on most of the islands is managed by the federal government as wildlife refuges, while the state Department of Land and Natural Resources regulates

the near-shore waters extending out three miles from land. In May, the various state and federal agencies that share jurisdiction over the islands signed an agreement to coordinate their management activities.) Under the president's proclamation, access to the area will be tightly controlled, with all commercial fishing being phased out within five years. However, access permits would be allowed for education, research and Native Hawaiian practices, defined as "cultural activities conducted for the purposes of perpetuating traditional knowledge, caring for and protecting the environment, and strengthening cultural and spiritual connections to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that have demonstrable benefits to the Native Hawaiian eonununity." Such practices include subsistence fishing, but only for eonsumption within the monument itself; no catch is allowed to be taken out. One area that may be open to greater public access is Midway Atoll, where there is a memorial coimnemorating the famous World War II sea battle that occurred there. Midway, whieh is home to thousands of seabirds, has been used as an ecotourism site in the past; it is not known yet whether such activities might resume. Varied reactions Government officials and even many conservationists were quick to praise the president for

his action. Conrad Lautenbacher, administrator of the National Oeeanie and Atmospheric Administration, called the monument designation "the single largest act of oeean conservation in history," while Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club of Hawai'i, called Bush's action "a bold step." Others, however, were more skeptical of Bush's motives, given his administration's widely criticized enviromnental record. "This move smacks of low-cost PR for a president desperately in need of a polkieal hug, maybe from a tree?" wrote one letter-writer to a Honolulu newspaper. A number of Native Hawaiians who have been involved in seeking protection for the Northwestern Islands said they were happy with the president's announcement, while several activists expressed concerns over the subsistence fishing rules that do not allow for removal of any catch from the monument area. "The access rights we're talking about is to feed our family," Moloka'i activist and former OHA Trustee Walter Ritte told The Honolulu Advertiser. Meanwhile, one fisherman who currently holds a permit to fish in the Northwestern Islands told the Honolulu Star-BuIIetin that he is making plans to begin farming Kona coffee instead. "I've got a mixed reaction," Bill Wakefield told the paper. "All of us fisherman have a deep, deep love for that area ... [But] to me personally, there's a bigger picture: to have a monument that's a secure, no-take area up there." E

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MĀLAMA 'ĀINA • CARING FDR ĪHE LAND

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