Invitation to Adopt-A-Bin and be part of the solution to Marine Debris

Saipan’s reefs and marine habitats are at risk from litter washing into the surrounding waters and becoming marine debris. This debris is not only unsightly; it poses a risk to marine life from entanglement, and smothering from its ingestion. MINA has found that beach clean ups alone are not the answer. The barrier to proper waste disposal must be addressed as well. In response MINA proposed and was awarded a grant by the NOAA Marine Debris Prevention program to place conveniently located recycling and mixed waste bins for public use and provide trash collection services at seven beach sites.

Funding has paid for the fabrication of weather resistant recycling and mixed waste bins for Saipan’s most popular beach sites: Garapan Fishing Basin, 13 Fisherman monument, Kilili Park, Sugar Dock, and Wing, Laolao, and Obyan beaches. Ericco Enterprises has been contracted to install the bins on March 27th and provide regular trash hauling services. The grant funding will pay for the first few months of hauling service, but MINA is asking interested individuals, families, and businesses to join the program and be part of the solution by “Adopting-A-Bin”. In return, Adopters will have their logo placed on their bin, a link to your organization on the MINA website, and be internationally recognized as one of Saipan's eco-friendly and community-oriented businesses in a documentary to be shown at the US Coral Reef Task Force meeting next year in Washington, DC.

Three sites have already been adopted! So if you wish to Adopt-a-Bin go to MINA's website under Goals & Projects. Scroll down to the link where you can download the form and send it to P.O. Box 506645 with a check for $1,000 made out to MINA, which will pay for one year of weekly trash hauling services from your site. You may submit your electronic logo and questions to MINA’s project manager, Kathy Yuknavage, at Kathy@minapacific.org.

Plenty to do this weekend

Tonight, November 9, 2007, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM , American Memorial Park will be hosting a Community Interaction in the Auditorium. Guest speakers will introduce the venomous Brown Tree Snake, the nasty and invasive Spanish Pepper Vine and Ranger Nancy will be showing folks how easy it is to recycle. Click HERE for more info.

Tomorrow, November 10, 2007, from 8:00 AM til lunch time, CRM, DLNR, MINA, NRCS, and other volunteers will carryout the first phase of the Obyan Beach Revegetation project. Equipment, supplies, and saplings... were made possible through funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA awarded to MINA and CRM. DLNR forestry tirelessly did the prep work by growing the saplings, and Beautify CNMI! will be donating refreshments; truly a coalition effort. MINA will also be raffling a pass for two people to attend their WaterPark and Lunch fundraiser at PIC on November 12. See you tomorrow! Click HERE for more info.

Also tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM, join Park Rangers and Volunteers at American Memorial Park in planting beautiful new Flame Trees and Golden Showers as part of the Arbor Day celebration. After planting the trees, AMP will lead the volunteers to the protected wetland to dig up those awful Spanish Pepper Vines. Then everyone will have lunch!!! Our cooperating association, the Arizona Memorial Museum Association is providing a light lunch for us after all that hard work. Click HERE for more info.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, DEQ has their monthly Cleanup Brigade, meeting at Sugar Dock at 8 AM tomorrow. This month, outstanding brigade volunteers who participated in at least ten (10) monthly cleanups will receive a brigade cap and those who participated in at least three (3) cleanups will receive a green brigade t-shirt. For more information call 664-8500.

Obyan Revegetation Announcement

What: Obyan Revegetation Project
Where: the old (blocked off) lower parking area upland from the Japanese bunker at Obyan Beach
When: THIS Saturday, November 10th, 8:00 am
Contact: Kathy Yuknavage, 664-8311, or kathy.yuknavage@crm.gov.mp

CRM in partnership with the DLNR, Mariana Islands Nature Alliance (MINA), and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), will be holding a Beautify CNMI! planting event at Obyan beach this Saturday, November 10th. The planting activity will reduce upland erosion at Obyan.

As many beach goers have observed, the coral road leading to Obyan regularly washes out during heavy rains. Stormwater gouges the soil, exposing important archeological artifacts to the elements, and then carries the soil to the shoreline. The soil or “sediment” enters the water reducing visibility for divers, and harms coral by preventing sunlight from nourishing the living organisms within its skeleton. The sediment eventually settles out on the corals’ surface, further stressing the coral reef’s health.

DLNR forestry experts will be teaching volunteers how to use various non-point source (NPS) pollution prevention “Best Management Practices” (BMP) to disperse stormwater run off. The BMPs are part of a comprehensive Conservation Planting Plan for Obyan created by the NRCS. Saturday’s planting event is just the first of many phases contained within the plan. People interested in learning how to implement BMPs, about other phases of the plan, or just wanting to help are invited to join volunteers from MINA, the Boy Scouts of America, and other Beautify CNMI! volunteers this Saturday, 8:00 am, in Obyan’s paved parking area.

Volunteers should bring sturdy work gloves, a hat, and sunscreen. Light refreshments will be provided and a raffle drawing will be held at the end of the event. Two lucky winners will be given (2) water park passes and a buffet lunch at PIC on November 12th, as part of MINA’s fundraising activities. Funds raised through ticket sales will be used to support MINA’s second Teachers’ Environmental Education Camp next summer. If interested, please contact Kathy Yuknavage at kathy.yuknavage@crm.gov.mp for more information.

East Obyan Latte Site

So who told the NMC students about the East Obyan Latte Site? I've walked by it a dozen times and I had no idea it was there.

Even if I had stumbled upon it, I probably would have thought that they were just a bunch of rocks. I imagine that this is one reason why there are so few latte stone houses left in the Marianas. Even if the Japanese or Americans had cared enough about the cultural symbol of the Marianas to protect them, were they even educated enough to recognize them? I doubt it.

Luckily we have the people at Historic Preservation Office to help us recognize historical sites. They are there should we have any questions. They might not know all the answers, but they are at least there to give us some insight.

I hate to have to admit this, but even after we finished clearing the historical site, it still kind of looked like a bunch of rocks in a clearing. (hangs head in shame).

HPO has a grant to design and build information signs for some of the historical spots around the island. Within the year, tourists and locals who visit this and a few other selected sites will be able to learn about some of the history of these islands.

History is piled on top of history in Saipan. This cement post was put here by NKK before World War II. It is right in the middle of the latte stone site.

So there it is. Go check out the site. To get there, park at the end of the paved parking lot at Obyan Beach, walk through the concrete structure, and right before you get to the beach, look left. You'll see a clearing with the latte stones in the middle.