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Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesNORTON ASKS INPUT ON REASSESSING MONUMENTS

NORTON ASKS INPUT ON REASSESSING MONUMENTS

U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton has asked several states and jurisdictions to recommend boundary and other revisions to national monuments designated by former President Bill Clinton in his last days in office.
In a statement from Government House Friday, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull said he had directed the Department of Planning and Natural Resources to take full advantage of the opportunity to reassess the monuments. DPNR Commissioner Dean Plaskett said Norton shares the view that the designations should have considered ownership of certain submerged lands and input from local government and residents.
According to Plaskett, Norton would like to address "not only national interest but local needs and concerns."
The Jan. 17 executive order by Clinton created the V.I. Coral Reef National Monument off St. John and expanded the Buck Island Reef National Monument off St. Croix. In all, nearly 50 square miles of submerged lands — about 1 percent of those in the V.I. — were affected by the designation, which bans fishing, anchoring and other activities in the area in order to conserve and restore coral reef ecosystems and marine life.

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