by Michele Catahay

Guam - Members of the federal delegation took a hike to Pagat yesterday. Over the past three days representatives from the Department of Defense and the Obama Administration have been on Guam to give a brief summary of what to expect. A group took a hike down Pagat, which the DoD hopes to use for a firing range for the buildup.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas Tony Babauta and White House Council on Environmental Quality's Horst Greczmeil were escorted out of the Pagat trail by a SWAT team. "This gave us an opportunity to see the trail and experience it not only the way the islanders do but also the way some of the native people do and the plants they respect very deeply so I learned a lot while I was there," he said.

Yesterday members of the We Are Guahan coalition and other individuals from the community formed a human chain at the Back Road to Andersen Air Force Base to protect Pagat. The peaceful protest was planned to show solidarity that the ancient Chamorro village of Pagat must be protected.