Included in the recent V.I. government-U.S. Interior Department memorandum of understanding aimed at restoring the territory’s fiscal health are provisions to preserve the islands’ natural and cultural resources.
The section on enhancing the territory’s natural resources has gone relatively unnoticed while labor leaders have criticized Gov. Charles Turnbull for the agreement's standards affecting local collective bargaining agreement laws, instituting 50-50 cost sharing for government workers’ retirement and health benefits and eliminating five paid holidays,
To help stimulate local economic growth through sustainable tourism, the memorandum of understanding commits the administration and Interior to a program of preserving and enhancing the territory’s natural, cultural and historic resources.
A key element is the establishment of what the memorandum calls the Virgin Islands Conservation Trust. The trust would maintain and manage resources by creating a network of local parks and recreation trails.
According to Delegate to Congress Donna Christian-Christensen, the trust would establish a fund to help manage local park lands. During an interview Thursday, she used the Camp Arawak land at Great Pond Bay as an example. The land was deeded to the government 25 years ago to be developed into a park. For various reasons, most recently because of a lack of funding, the land was never fully utilized by the government.
Christensen said that elements of the V.I.-Interior agreement would still have to go before the Legislature for approval.
The program will also include exchanging interests in land, including submerged lands and coral reefs, under federal and local government jurisdiction.
Working jointly, the governments will identify and map submerged land and reefs, place them in sufficient protected status to ensure long-term protection and create the authority needed to establish the V.I. Conservation Trust.
The memorandum states that the secretary of Interior — now Bruce Babbitt — will do the following:
— Work on obtaining funding and assets for the V.I. Conservation Trust.
— Work with the V.I. government to draft an additional memorandum of understanding that would implement joint planning and management of the Salt River Marine and Ecological Park.
— Along with the University of the Virgin Islands, create a consortium to promote the understanding of the marine environment, including coral reef ecosystems, and promote marine education and public awareness within the Caribbean.
— Work with the V.I. government and UVI to provide opportunities for students to learn about the stewardship of resources by using National Park Service experts through a park mentorship program. This would be funded at up to $50,000 a year for fiscal years 2000, 2001 and 2002, subject to the availability of funds.
