The President of United States has announced to designate three remote Pacific island chains as national monuments. It is said that the three areas, totaling some 195,280 square miles, are expected to include the Mariana Trench along the Northern Mariana Islands, Rose Atoll in American Samoa and seven islands in the central Pacific Ocean. White House press secretary Dana Perino confirmed the announcement but declined to provide details.
It is observed that the areas will be protected under the 1906 Antiquities Act. This decision will prohibit the destruction and extraction of natural resources from the areas. Perino said that the designation will not conflict with U.S. military activities or freedom of navigation. She also told that the public and future generations will benefit from the science and knowledge gained” from the areas.
It is informed that two years ago Bush made a huge swath of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, barring fishing, oil and gas extraction and tourism from its waters and coral reefs. Bush’s declaration of the Mariana Trench, the world’s deepest underwater canyon, comes a century after Teddy Roosevelt first protected the Grand Canyon as a national monument in 1908.
Experts have different opinions that the measure will also boost the environmental record of a president who has been criticized for not doing enough against air pollution and global warming. Friends of the Monument, an environmental group based in the Northern Mariana Islands who supported the monument designation, said that they will monitor the announcement closely to make sure it includes all the areas deserving protection.
