Friends of Marpi - ACTION ALERT

The following is reproduced from an email circulated on May 11, 2011:

Dear Friends of Marpi,

As many of you know by now, on May 2, 2011 Judge Kenneth Govendo issued a 90-day preliminary injunction on the Marpi power pole project following two days of hearings on the matter. The judge encouraged the government and the Friends of Marpi to come together over the 90-day injunction period and discuss ways to resolve the controversy that would be satisfactory to both parties.

Here are links to the stories on the hearings, from the Marianas Variety here:

• "Govt told to listen to the people" http://www.mvariety.com/2011050236453/local-news/govt-told-to-listen-to-the-people.php

and the Saipan Tribune here:

• "Judge stops Marpi poles project for 90 days" http://saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=109108

Also included in this email are documents submitted to the court during the hearing on May 2:

• Letter from Dr. David Louter, Cultural Resources Program Chief for the National Parks Service, in response to to Friends of Marpi's inquiry regarding the compliance of the Marpi power pole project with requirements under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (document attached). Dr. Louter describes the significance of the National Historic Landmark area of Marpi, and the role of the National Park Service in monitoring historic sites across the nation. He notes that NPS is concerned about the cumulative effects, or incremental loss, that the Marpi cemetery and other projects may have on the integrity of the Marpi area and its historic and cultural values. Louter further indicates that NPS had not been formally invited to Section 106 consultation for the Marpi project, and that NPS had supported the CNMI Historic Preservation Office's recommendation to the local government to consider either solar power or underground lines instead of power poles.
• A document produced by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, titled "Environmental Impacts of Transmission Lines" and found here: http://psc.wi.gov/thelibrary/publications/electric/electric10.pdf. The paper provides an overview of the environmental issues and concerns raised by the construction of power lines, and discusses ways to measure, identify, and minimize or mitigate negative impacts, including impacts to places of historic, cultural, or scenic value. The paper also notes that underground transmission lines are considered a reasonable alternative in places where aesthetic impacts of power lines would be significant, and that low-voltage underground lines are more cost-effective and more common than high-voltage underground lines.

Many thanks to Jim Davies, a resident of the CNMI for more than 20 years, who offered testimony at the hearing about the impacts that the Marpi power poles will have on his ecotourism business, and CNMI ecotourism generally, and also on the Japanese film and photography industry, with which he has worked over the course of his years here, and of course to David Banes and Wes Bogdan for their strong work in preparing the case and securing the injunction.

***
Since the issuance of the injunction, the CNMI House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Natural Resources has called for public hearings on the Marpi power pole project. Please do take the time to make your voice heard and participate in these hearings. Our thanks to House Natural Resources Chair, Representative Joe Palacios, for convening these hearings and offering the opportunity for all of us in the community to express our views.

The hearings are scheduled for:

• Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 6pm - CNMI House of Representatives Chamber at the Legislature on Capitol Hill
• Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 6pm - Multipurpose Center in Susupe

Want to help? Here are eight simple ways to do your part:

1. Go to: http://www.friendsofmarpi.com and click on Letter to Elected Officials to sign the form letter which will be forwarded to our elected officials. This will only take you a minute!

2. Write a personal testimony and submit it to the House Natural Resources Committee. Submit written testimonies by dropping them off or faxing to the Office of Representative Joseph M. Palacios (664-8831) or mailing to P.O. Box 500586 Saipan, MP 96950. Written testimonies can also be emailed to rep.palaciosj@cnmileg.gov.mp. 

3. Share your personal testimony with local media and the Friends of Marpi. Email the Marianas Variety at editor@mvariety.com and the Saipan Tribune at editor@saipantribune.com to submit letters to the editor. Please also share your testimonies with the Friends of Marpi - email Glen Hunter at glenhunter@gmail.com so we can post it on the website.

4. Attend the hearings on May 12 (6pm, CNMI House of Representatives Chamber) and May 18 (6pm, Multipurpose Center), and personally submit your testimony at the hearing.

5. Write to David at davidgbanes@gmail.com if you would like your name to be included with his written testimony on behalf of Friends of Marpi. David sent out his draft in an earlier email, and I am attaching it here as well.

6. Sign the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/keep-marpi-beautiful-----for-tourists-and-residents-alike/.

7. Donate to Friends of Marpi (make checks payable to Marianas Resource Conservation & Development Council, write "Friends of Marpi" in the memo line, and submit to either Laurie Peterka or Tina Sablan, both members of the council)

8. SPREAD THE WORD. Please circulate this information to your mailing lists, on your Facebook page, and by word of mouth. Encourage your friends and family to join the Friends of Marpi and help keep Marpi beautiful.

***

Many thanks!
Best wishes,
Tina Sablan

2 attachments
NPS response to Friends of Marpi 27April2011.pdf 
David Banes.Draft Marpi Testimony.05.11.11.doc

ACTION ALERT: US Congress to elimiate RC&D funding

Please write a letter to your Representative(s)
to insist that funding be continued
for the nation-wide
Resource Conservation and Development Council Program

(CLICK HERE OR SCROLL TO END FOR SAMPLE LETTER)

In the CNMI, Marianas RC&D is finally back on its feet after several years of dormancy. It would be such a shame to have all of last year's hard work go to waste. Marianas RC&D recently assisted with a number of projects in the last twelve months and stands to help with many more in the next few years:

CNMI ---

• partnership with Beautify CNMI! in tracking volunteer hours and helping process donations
• helped make the Beautify CNMI! calendar fund-raising project possible
• approved the partnership for the Marine Science Center project in PauPau
• looking to facilitate other projects such as the Garapan Public Market, a fisherman's co-op and various solar projects, just to name a few

Guam ---

• Masso Watershed Project
• Streambank Stabilization Plan
• Fanihi Forever
• Friends of the Guam National Wildlife Refuge
• Haggan Fund
• Navigating Change Marianas

Marianas RC&D can help facilitate groups and projects to find resources, secure funding and provide guidance in project/program development. Rural community areas such as our stand to benefit from the continuation of this type of federal program. While Marianas RC&D can continue as a private non-profit, it will be less functional without its very hard working regional coordinator who helps guide the local council in so many aspects.

Funds provided to RC&D Councils
through Congressional appropriations
provide technical assistance and support
for one federal coordinator per RC&D Council.

In turn, RC&D Councils seek outside funding to address local needs identified in RC&D Council formulated area plans for conservation and economic development. In FY10, RC&D Councils were able to raise an average of $6.93 in funding (from private foundations and government grants) for every $1.00 provided by Congress. However, since 2003 program funding has remained level and inflation has thus gradually decreased the level of RC&D Council services provided to local communities. Many RC&D Councils no longer have full-time coordinators, and many program assistant positions have been eliminated. In FY 2010-2011, Marianas RC&D was able to exceed a 1:1 ratio of matching local donations through projects of more than $250,000.

By its simple nature and organization, every single person in the CNMI is an eligible member of the Marianas RC&D. The sample letter below can be used by anyone...simply adjust for your local area/community accordingly. Feel free to copy and paste this letter in its entirety to your own letterhead (or to an email) --- simply change the information where you see italics.

SAMPLE LETTER

[insert date]

Honorable Gregorio C. Sablan

US House of Representatives

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

423 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

Honorable Madeline Z. Bordallo
US House of Representatives
2441 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515

RE: FY 2011 Funding for the Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Program in Agriculture Appropriations

Dear Representative(s) Sablan (and/or Bordallo):

I am a member of the Marianas RC&D Council located in Mariana Islands, including both the CNMI and Guam. I would like to add my voice to the many RC&D Council Members and supporters who are urging the Senate to restore FY 2011 funding for the RC&D Program. Please note: this is a PROGRAMMATIC REQUEST and not an earmark.

The RC&D Program has created jobs and businesses, and leveraged financial means to support economic development and protect natural resources. On average, $6.93 is generated for every $1.00 of federal funds invested in the RC&D Program; for some RC&D Councils the leveraged amount is even greater.

If funding for this program is cut, there are a number of local community projects only just getting off the ground that will suffer or just simply end or not happen at all. These include an array of environmental awareness and restoration projects, species protections projects, alternative energy projects, science programs as well as various projects aimed at bringing local agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing products to market. The variety and types of assistance that RC&D bring to our community are wide.
Please show your support for our RC&D Council by asking the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee to provide $50.73 million to USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service for the RC&D Program. Specifically, please ask them to insert the following language into the FY 2011 Agriculture Appropriations bill:

“Resource Conservation and Development Councils play an important role in job creation, rural economic development, and natural resource conservation. There are currently 375 existing RC&D Councils and 38 pending applicant Councils. The Committee provides $50.73 million to maintain the current operations of existing RC&D Councils.”

Sincerely,

Your name
Marianas RC&D Council
Your contact information

--------------------------------------------------------------------
LAST STEP --- Email your electronic copy and mail your hard copy:

• Congressman Sablan: Kilili@mail.house.gov
• Congresswoman Bordallo:  http://www.house.gov/bordallo/contact.shtml

Considering a partner opportunity - Marianas Resource Conservation and Development Council

Let us start off this post with a reminder of the mission of Beautify CNMI!, which was developed by coalition partners over the last five or so years:

Beautify CNMI! is a coalition of concerned citizens, private groups, and government entities united to enhance the CNMI's natural beauty and foster community pride in its residents and visitors.

It is important from time to time to remind ourselves of this sentence, because it has the power to refocus our attention to what is important. We want to use the statement in principle as much as we use it as a philosophy.

To this end, at last week's year-end meeting, a few Beautify CNMI! partners discussed the potential value in setting up Affiliate Partner Agreements with Marianas Resource Conservation and Development Council. The purpose of doing something like this is to utilize one partner's (MRCDC) capabilities to the benefit of the whole coalition. In essence, MRCDC is an affiliate partner just like any other. As with any affiliate partner, each brings a unique value to the Beautify CNMI! concept. MRCDC is the partner that could potentially provide administrative support to facilitate the total effort of all our efforts. The concept still has some kinks and requires further discussion, but looks something like this. We break it down into two perspectives to try to convey the idea (see below).

Another way to look at it would be like this:

In this concept, MRDCD becomes an affiliate partner with the rest of the Beautify CNMI! family. Using MRDCD as an administrative service/servant, allows the whole Beautify CNMI! concept retain its "loose coalition" style of getting things done in the CNMI. Creating the Affiliate Partner Agreements is not intended to place any one affiliate above any other affiliate or to suggest anyone group has more ownership or control than another. The purpose is administrative. The value is in how the administrative services can benefit both the Beautify CNMI! concept as a whole and as individual partner can benefit for their specific projects or groups.

Some of the benefits include:

• Cooperative assistance from Marianas Resource Conservation & Development Council for any project that fits into the mission and scope of the Council. Assistance may include, but is not necessarily limited to:
• Grant application guidance
• Grant applicant-beneficiary collaboration
• Grant administrative services
• Fiscal agent services (accepting and processing donations)
• Acknowledgment & exposure:
• Inclusion on MRCDC website Partner page
• One independent standard template page on MRCDC website
• Priority consideration for project assistance
• An annual report on the status of all logged volunteer hours

Perhaps not so coincidentally, one of the original coalition members and founders (Angelo Villagomez) used to work under contract for MRCDC. Perhaps he will read this post and contribute to the discussion here on this blog. Otherwise, the discussion on ground for this idea will continue in the next MRCDC meeting scheduled for Monday, December 13th. MRCDC's Saipan Committee meetings are loose-working meeting (not formal) where ideas can be brain-stormed or hashed out in a cooperative and friendly environment. If you are interested in attending or interested to learn more about the above idea, please email marianas.rcdc@gmail.com. Everyone is welcome!

Please join us for the last meeting of 2010!

Day and Date: Thursday, 12/2
Time: 5:30pm
Location: NRCS office in Garapan (just south of the Naked Fish Restaurant at the ground floor of the 3-story white building)

Agenda Items

Priority
1. Reconnecting Beautify CNMI and its partners with Marianas RC&D (20-30 mins; will include short presentation by Mark Defley, comments from Council Members and discussion with BCNMI Partners)
2. Status update on plans for incorporating (10-mins; Cinta/Horiguchi)
3. Bridge Capital Donation (5-mins; Cinta/Laurie)
4. Year-End Wrap-up & select date/make plans for 2011 Kick Off Meeting (10-15-mins; Cinta/Laurie)

Time Permitting
Calendar and Bus Stop Project (10-mins; Cinta/Marites/Becky)
FirstFridayFilms Support (10-mins; Laurie for Aric Bickel)
Marine Lab at PauPau (10-mins; John Furey)

(In the spirit of respect for everyone's precious time, the meeting will finished in as close to 1-hour as is possible, though generally, meetings tend to run about 1.5 hours, so plan for yourself accordingly.)

The highlight of this meeting is to present the opportunity to sign an MOU with Marianas RC&D that would create a partnership mutually beneficial to all Beautify CNMI! partners. We want your input!