While I'd never have expected such a drastic move from the Bush administration when it comes to protecting parts of the environment, there's an announcement today that makes me think hell might be a little bit chilly today..
They're going to announce the creation of a national monument in the Pacific, North West of Hawai`i that is larger than all the US national parks, combined.
I heard this morning on NPR about the announcement, so I decided to follow it up this morning.
Reuters: Northwest Hawaiian Islands to get monument status
USA Today: Hawaiian island chain will get national-monument status
WaPo: Hawaiian Marine Reserve To Be World's Largest
Basically, it can all be summed up with this:
Holy Crap! They're doing something to protect the environment!?
Oops.. from the article:
Washington Post - President Bush plans to designate an island chain spanning nearly 1,400 miles of the Pacific northwest of Hawaii as a national monument today, creating the largest protected marine reserve in the world, according to sources familiar with the plan.
Map of the Area
Obligatory Tree-Hugger Quote
"This is a landmark conservation event," said Joshua Reichert, who heads the Pew Charitable Trusts' environment programs and had pushed to have the area designated as a marine sanctuary. "The government is saying in certain places, for certain reasons, it is important to restrict activities that have the potential to damage the marine environment, of which fishing is a big one."
Of course, there are concerns about what this designation will mean to the local fisherman, as the national monument designation brings about protective measures -- Fishing will be phased out within the next 5 years.
The conservation of this area has a long history of interest to those in power: In 1909, conservation-crazy President (Teddy) Roosevelt created a bird sanctuary on some of the islands. (More Info Here)
President Clinton, by executive order in 2000 and 2001 created a coral reef ecosystem reserve here, but stopped short of creating a full-on nature sanctuary.
Even Newt Gingrich has his fingerprints all over this announcement.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in a letter to President Bush called attention to "a marvelous opportunity to leave a historic mark on U.S. and world conservation history." In the letter sent earlier this year, Gingrich urged the President to provide permanent protection to the remote chain of uninhabited islands, atolls, submerged banks and surrounding waters known as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI).
In his letter, he points out some pretty good reasons why the area should be protected:
The archipelago has a number of unique qualities that make it worthy of permanent conservation. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands:
-- account for 10 percent of the coral reefs out to 100 fathoms under U.S. jurisdiction;
-- are the most remote large-scale coral reef ecosystem on the planet, and are less impacted by pollution and use than are reefs closer to human populations;
-- are the least-impacted large marine ecosystem in U.S. waters, from which we can learn how coral reef ecosystems operate in a natural state;
-- are a predator-dominated ecosystem, unlike all other large- scale coral reef ecosystems in which predator fish have been heavily depleted;
-- support the highest degree of endemic coral reef species, meaning species that are found only in the NWHI or in the Hawaiian Archipelago (about 25 percent of all shallow water coral reef species in the NWHI are endemic);
-- harbor the highest proportion of un-described reef species (algae, corals, sponges, other invertebrates) of any reefs on the planet;
-- are home to the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, the only surviving marine mammal that is wholly dependent on coral reefs, and whose complete habitat is within U.S. waters (estimated population of 1300);
-- comprise the largest seabird rookery in the United States, with about 6 million seabirds from more than 20 species breeding here, and provide critical habitat for several globally endangered or threatened seabird species, such as albatrosses;
-- are the nesting grounds for more than 90 percent of green sea turtles in the Hawaiian Archipelago; and
-- are culturally important to Native Hawaiians.
There's a lot more information to be gleaned from the articles listed above, so if you're interested, read on.
Now, if you're as cynical as me, by now you're thinking the same thing I am.. "Where's the oil, and who gets the rights?"
And, when do the Republican Pro-Environment ads start rolling?
Additional Info Diaried:
TheWarden: Bush's new Wildlife Preserve a very sad ploy
Updated 11:54am EST: Changed the title slightly..