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By daybreak
Published: May 7, 2008
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Pacific Islands -

NOAA has announced the availability of a Draft Monument Management Plan (MMP) and associated environmental assessment for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands which includes all federal lands and waters within its boundaries. The State of Hawai’i is a Cooperating Agency on the development of the MMP. The Monument's resources and management activities, ongoing and proposed, are described in the Draft MMP. The Monument comprises one of the largest marine protected areas in the world, it is a vast, remote, and largely uninhabited marine region, encompasses an area of approximately 139,793 square miles of Pacific Ocean in the northwestern extent of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Covering a distance of 1,200 miles, the 100-mile wide Monument is dotted with small islands, islets, and atolls and a complex array of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. This region and its natural and historic resources hold great cultural and religious significance to Native Hawaiians. It is also home to a variety of post-Western contact historic resources such as those associated with the Battle of Midway. As such, the Monument has been identified as a national priority for permanent protection as a Monument for its unique and significant confluence of conservation, ecological, historical, scientific, educational, and Native Hawaiian cultural qualities. The plan outlines the following six major priorities for the Monument,

    * Understanding and Interpreting the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
    * Conserving Wildlife and Habitats
    * Reducing Threats to Monument Resources
    * Managing Human Uses
    * Coordinating Conservation and Management Activities
    * Achieving Effective Monument Operations

The Draft MMP and associated documents are available on the FWS and NOAA Web sites http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands and http://hawaiireef.noaa.gov/ as well as at local libraries within the State of Hawai’i. You may provide written comments on the Draft MMP by sending them to Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Attn: Susan White, FWS Superintendent, Box 50167, Honolulu, HI 96850-5000; or by email to PMNM_MMP_Comments@fws.gov.  

For additional information, please contact Susan White, FWS Superintendent, telephone: (808) 792-9480.

 

source NOAA Fish News 

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