WASHINGTON — Parts of three remote and uninhabited Pacific island chains are being set aside by President George W. Bush as national monuments to protect them from oil and gas extraction and commercial fishing in what will be the largest marine conservation effort in history.
The three areas — totaling 195,274 square miles — include the Mariana Trench and the waters and corals surrounding three uninhabited islands in the Northern Mariana Islands, Rose Atoll in American Samoa, and seven islands strung along the equator in the central Pacific.
Each location harbors unique species and some of the rarest geological formations on Earth — from the world’s largest land crab to a bird that incubates its eggs in the heat of underwater volcanoes.
All will be protected as national monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act. The law lets the government immediately phase out commercial fishing and other extractive uses.
However, recreational fishing, tourism and scientific research with a federal permit could still occur inside the three areas. The designations will also not conflict with U.S. military activities or freedom of navigation, White House officials said.
The president plans to make the designation official today at a White House ceremony.
Northern Mariana Islands government officials and indigenous communities initially objected to the monument designation, citing concerns about sovereignty, fishing and mineral exploration.
Environmentalists had hoped for more. The protected areas will extend 50 nautical miles off the coral reefs and atolls at the three monuments, which will be called the Marianas Marine National Monument, Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Advocacy groups were pushing for 200 nautical miles.
