Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen and Gov. Charles Turnbull met with Interior Secretary Gale Norton on Tuesday to press for action to lessen the impact of the federal government’s establishment and expansion of marine national monuments in the territory.
The meeting of the Pacific Basin Development Council, which focuses primarily on issues affecting the Pacific territories but to which the Virgin Islands is invited because of common concerns, provided a chance for the two V.I. officials to discuss the recent creation of a national monument off St. John and the expansion of Buck Island Reef National Monument off St. Croix.
"We need your assistance on the question of who owns the submerged lands," Christensen told Norton. "Once the jurisdictional questions are resolved, we are also asking for the involvement of our fishing community in the development of the management plans."
Christensen also asked that the designations of the "no-take" zones be put on hold until the jurisdictional issues are resolved.
It was Turnbull’s second meeting with Norton this week on the monument issue. In a statement Wednesday, Turnbull said the secretary told him she would review the monument boundaries and make "appropriate adjustments" after consulting with local officials.
"Because not a lot of consultation was done, we need to take another look at those most affected," said Norton of the monument designations. "We need to look at what can be done through management and boundary adjustments until we reach a mutually satisfactory solution."
On Tuesday afternoon, Christensen attended a briefing with Interior officials and the House Resources Committee's National Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee staff that addressed the issue of who owns the submerged lands. Interior officials gave presentations on how they determined ownership and on the need for preserving and in turn replenishing the fisheries.
Christensen noted that while fishermen were not against the replenishment of the fisheries, a balance should be struck between preservation and the community's socio-economic well-being.
According to the proclamation signed by former President Bill Clinton during his last week in office that expands the Buck Island Monument by 18,000 acres, the secretary of the Interior, who oversees the Park Service, has two years to prepare a management plan to protect natural and historical resources. For the 12,700-acre St. John monument, the time line is three years.
The delegate echoed her concerns over the ramifications of no-take zones Wednesday when she addressed the Coral Reef Task Force in Washington, D.C. While applauding the task force's science and preservation efforts, Christensen urged members to "work harder to look for that fragile balance, and take into equal consideration every impact that your decisions might have, as well as to maintain a posture of flexibility in terms of the possible approaches that might well be able to achieve the same goal."
The 1999 Coral Reef Task Force meeting was held on St. Croix, where Turnbull and Dean Plaskett, Department of Planning and Natural Resources commissioner, signed off with other members to set aside as no-take zones a minimum of 20 percent of U.S. reefs by 2010.
The Coral Reef Task Force meeting was attended by a contingent of Virgin Islanders, including DPNR staff, Friends of the Park and the National Park Service officials.
