Episode 263 of Beyond the Fence, titled “Military Testing & Training in the Marianas: Three Views from Guam,” airs on KPRG 89.3 FM at noon today, Sept. 1.
On July 28, 2017, the Navy announced that a supplement to the 2015 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is being prepared to support ongoing and additional military activities conducted at sea within the Marianas Islands Testing and Training (MITT) area. This SEIS process is in addition to the Live Fire Training Range near Ritidian and the hand grenade range approved pursuant to the September 2015 Guam -CNMI Military Buildup Record of Decision, and separate from the CNMI Joint Military Training Proposal, which would allow the military to use two thirds of Tinian and the entire island of Pagan for live fire training. Both proposals are being protested by local groups in Guam and in the CNMI.
The Navy is encouraging the public to submit substantive comments on the scope of their proposed analysis by Sept. 15. [Go to https://mitt-eis.com/]
This episode features three Guam residents who offer different views on this subject:
Siobhon McManus is a Palauan Chamoru writer, an English teacher, and an Ethnic Studies student at Mills College in Oakland, CA. She conducted the August 17th teach-in at the University of Guam sponsored by Independent Guahån. Her presentation, “Militarization as a Barrier to Decolonization” was prepared in consultation with Samantha Barnett, a summer college intern in the office of Vice Speaker Therese Terlaje.
Evangeline D. Lujan, a civil engineer, has been involved with land use planning and natural resources management in Guam for the past 20 years. Since 2013, she has been Senior Regulatory analyst with the Guam Waterworks Authority where she is responsible for ensuring compliance with environmental regulations. She started her career in government service in 1990 as the Geographic Information System manager at the Bureau of Statistics and Plans where she eventually assumed the position of administrator for the Guam Coastal Management Program. She was also appointed by Gov. Felix Camacho as focal point for the Micronesia Challenge, a regional conservation initiative.
Jeff Quitugua has 20 years of experience working for the government of Guam; 16 years with the Guam Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatics and Wildlife Resources. Since 2005, he has served as one of two technical guidance biologists, responsible for reviewing and providing comments on all project proposals that may have an impact on biological resources on Guam.
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“Beyond the Fence” airs at noon on the first and third Friday of the month on Public Radio Guam-KPRG 89.3 FM (89.1 FM in the CNMI). This one hour locally produced program features interviews and coverage of public events offering analyses and personal perspectives on the impacts of U.S. militarism in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands.
Suggestions for future topics and guests, or requests to be removed or added to this list, may be sent to btf.kprg@gmail.com or call 671-734-8930 KPRG streams live at www.kprgfm.com/ and has released apps for Iphone/Ipad and Android devices. Podcasts of most episodes are available for free and may be downloaded within five days of the broadcast by going to: http://kprg.podbean.com/.