The MarianaMonument.com website is a passion project funded, designed and maintained by author and Saipan resident, Walt F.J. Goodridge, to provide a permanent record of the effort and success of the concerned residents and activists who pushed to create the Mariana Trench National Marine Monument. For a great account of the lead-up, the resistance, execution and aftermath of that effort, visit Angelo Villagomez’ blog https://www.taotaotasi.com/search?q=mariana+trench

[EXCERPT FROM ANGELO’S BLOG]: “A group of people started planning for a visit to the Northern Islands in early 2009. That January, then-President George W. Bush had invoked the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create a marine protected area surrounding the three northernmost islands of Asuncion, Maug and Uracas. Before its creation, the proposed ocean park had been a topic of great discussion within the community and I had been a part of its making as the Saipan coordinator of Pew Environment Group’s Global Ocean Legacy Campaign. I was the lead organizer in charge of building local support. I spent thebetter part of 2008 organizing a team of over 100 volunteers and supporters to collect signatures, write letters, and attend meetings. On the day the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument was created it became one of the largest marine protected areas in the world, but…” [END]