Political opinions aside, I must applaud President Bush’s latest environmental move– the largest marine conservation effort in history. Some 195,274 square miles of Pacific Ocean have been designated National Marine Monuments. Image via CDC. This is largely due to the hard work of the Friends of the Monument group that sought protection of this area [...]
Political opinions aside, I must applaud President Bush’s latest environmental move– the largest marine conservation effort in history. Some 195,274 square miles of Pacific Ocean have been designated National Marine Monuments. Image via CDC.
This is largely due to the hard work of the Friends of the Monument group that sought protection of this area near the Mariana Islands. As a monument, this area will be protected under the 1906 Antiquities Act which will allow our government to immediately stop commercial fishing and waste dumping. In the past, The Northern Mariana Islands have not had the means to patrol and protect this area, leaving it open to poachers. With this proclamation its protection is ensured.
Here are a few excerpts of the proclamation from the President:
Over approximately 480 nautical miles, the Mariana Archipelago encompasses the 14 islands of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Territory of Guam that sit atop the Mariana Ridge in an area known as the Mariana Volcanic Arc. The Mariana Volcanic Arc is part of a subduction system in which the Pacific Plate plunges beneath the Philippine Sea Plate and into the Earth’s mantle, creating the Mariana Trench. Six of the archipelago’s islands have been volcanically active in historic times, and numerous seamounts along the Mariana Ridge are volcanically or hydrothermically active. The Mariana Trench is approximately 940 nautical miles long and 38 nautical miles wide within the United States Exclusive Economic Zone and contains the deepest known points in the global ocean.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Antiquities Act do proclaim that there are hereby set apart and reserved as the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument (the “monument” or “marine national monument”) for the purpose of protecting the objects identified above, all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States within the boundaries described below and depicted on the accompanying map entitled “Marianas Trench Marine National Monument” attached to and forming a part of this proclamation.
Dubya done good. Thanks to Deep Sea News for bringing this to our attention yesterday!
