Help decide fate of ancestral sites

Sep 14, 2020
Help decide fate of ancestral sites
Two virtual public meetings next week will help decide how we honor our ancient Chamorro heritage. Preliminary results of the Rota Special Resource Study will be discussed; and ideas from the meetings and from comments submitted in writing will be incorporated into a final report to the Secretary of the Interior next year. Honoring our Chamorro heritage is important to us all, which is why I began work on legislation authorizing study of the historical, archaeological, and cultural artifacts on Rota in 2010 during my first term in office. The original idea for a Rota National Park came from Rota’s then-Senator Diego Songao; and I was able to get a law authorizing study of the suitability and feasibility of a park in 2014 and funding the year after. The preliminary finding is that Rota contains resources found nowhere else in our nation and that a Chamorro National Historical Park could be added to the 57 other historical parks nationwide, if the people agree. Over 200 participated in the initial public meetings in the Marianas, when the Park study began in 2017, demonstrating significant interest and support. Now, everyone is invited to continue that conversation. The public meetings will be held on Zoom—to maintain safety in the pandemic—on the following dates:
More information on the virtual public meetings is available at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/meetingNotices.cfm?projectID=65104. Comments may also be submitted to the National Park Service through October 26, 2020, in the following ways:
  • Mail: National Park Service – Planning & Compliance 333 Bush Street, Suite 500 San Francisco, CA 94104
  • Email: Rota_study@nps.gov