Bush Ocean Plan Is Criticized

The 6.8-mile-deep Mariana Trench, the deepest ocean canyon in the world, is part of one of President Bush's "marine conservation management areas." (Courtesy Of Noaa/ngdc)

No one questions the ecological, biological and geological value of these sites, but supporters of protecting them -- including Connaughton and advocacy organizations such as the Pew Environment Group -- have faced serious opposition in convincing several key White House officials of the value of broad "no-take" reserves. Bush initially explored the idea of establishing other protected areas closer to U.S. shores, including one off the southeastern coast near a group of deep-sea corals and another in the Gulf of Mexico. After commercial and recreational fishing interests and oil companies objected, the administration decided to pursue existing resource-management plans in those areas instead.

Despite the islands' distance from the continental United States, the proposal to designate an area around the Northern Marianas -- a U.S. commonwealth between Japan and Guam -- has sparked considerable debate. Cheney and National Economic Council Director Keith Hennessey have questioned the impact on the region's economy, a concern some local officials also raised.

In a June 9 letter to Bush, Juan Borja Tudela, mayor of the Marianas' most populous island, Saipan, argued that "the loss of extractive privileges of natural resources in over 115,00 square miles of water . . . far outweigh any benefits" that a marine reserve would yield. Another group of local officials wrote to Bush on Sept. 15, saying that the designation "would deny and take away from us the management responsibility of hundreds of years of successful stewardship."

The influential Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, a fierce opponent of marine reserves that tried to block the Hawaii marine monument, has also worked to keep the Northern Marianas open to fishing. On Oct. 20, the council, which regulates fishing in U.S. waters in the far Pacific, passed a resolution saying it "is concerned about the magnitude of areas being discussed" and insisted that local residents be allowed to review any proposal before it becomes final.

There has been significantly less controversy over designating the Line Islands in the central Pacific; much of the region is federal territory and sparsely populated.

Connaughton -- who held meetings last month in American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam and Saipan about the two proposals -- said the administration is sensitive to the issues that Marianas officials have raised.

"The vice president is flagging something I had already laid out in our policy briefings," Connaughton said. Officials in Saipan "want to make sure that local tourism concerns are going to be taken care of, which includes fishing off of Saipan. They're very interested in the potential of geothermal energy."

But other island residents welcome the idea of a marine reserve, which would draw researchers and tourists to nearby diving spots. The Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands has endorsed it, and the Pew Environment Group has collected 6,500 signatures from residents who back the monument.

Joshua Reichert, the Pew group's managing director, said that if Bush designates the Mariana Trench and the surrounding area, he will have protected more square miles than any previous president.

"Protecting places like this is one of the few things a sitting president can do that will live on in posterity and be remembered long after the other decrees and orders have been forgotten," Reichert said. "It would signal to the nation and the world that the sea needs to be treated as a threatened resource, and it will open up an era of global ocean conservation."

Claudia McMurray, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for oceans, environment and science, said the administration will be "working up until the last week" of Bush's term on the initiatives.

"While it would take a significant amount of work, we haven't ruled it out," she said. "We feel fairly confident, scientifically, there are so many unique species in that area, from that standpoint, we think it's important to wall off as much as we can."