13 senators urge governor to take more action on firing range

Thirteen of 15 senators in the Guam Legislature have signed on to a resolution that looks to call on the governor to call for a pause on all construction and work on ancestral sites at the Navy's proposed Live Fire Training Range. While we don't know how long of a pause senators are asking the governor to ask for, we do know why senators are asking for it. 

Resolution 164-35 comes just days after Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero announced she would ask the military for a partial construction pause in an area where the last serianthese nelsonii tree lives on the proposed firing range construction site.

The governor's call for a pause came after a closed-door meeting with senators on Friday.

Some senators told KUAM News they were surprised the governor made the move when talks in the closed-door meeting centered on a pause for all construction and archeological activity.

KUAM News was not allowed to attend the meeting.

"That's what we are hoping that's the intent so that we would be all united at all branches," Vice Speaker Telena Nelson said.

Resolution 164 calls on the Maga'haga to call for a pause to "clearing, pre-construction, data recovery and construction-related activities" at the live-fire training range.

While the governor said the reason she called for a partial halt was because of the critically endangered fire tree the military has already cordoned off an area around the tree as part of efforts to collect seedlings.

"It's not just the tree there are other areas that are impacted, other species that are being threatened," Nelson.

The military's process of handling ancestral sites and artifacts one of the main topics at a press conference for the resolution at the Guam Congress Hall, senators saying that the programmatic agreement has not always been honored and that the way it allows the military to deal with ancient sites and artifacts is problematic.

"Clearing the data, clearing the artifacts, clearing the lusong, the latte - that's what happened at Magua," Sen. Therese Teraje said. "They cleared the area and they did not preserve it in site, but the intent of the programmatic agreement was that these historic sites would be avoided."

"There's a high concentration of archeological finds, there's a lot of natural resources that are endemic that are found nowhere else in the world," Sen. Sabina Perez said.

"We have to correct it, there are a lot of things in the agreement - the programmatic agreement the four pillars that we are not steadfast to what we all agreed to," Sen. Telo Taitague said.

"It destroys a conservation area, that should never be allowed," Sen. Kelly Marsh (Taitano) said. "A conservation area holds something in trust for a community, and that's exactly what they're proposing to bulldoze and clear off the face of the earth."

"I think it's becoming more and more obvious thanks to good reporting that there's a lot the community does not know that is actually going on there are actually things that even our government agencies - that we are completely relying on to do these things and take care of them for us - are unable to stop," Sen. Terlaje said.

And just how long of a pause are senators asking the governor to ask for?


"As long as is needed to make sure that all the research is done and that it satisfies the people of Guam," Sen. Joe San Agustin said.

Two senators - republicans Mary Torres and Jim Moylan have not signed on to support the Resolution 164, which is scheduled for a public hearing on July 3 at 5 p.m.

Senators spent much of the time before the press conference in caucus, as Nelson had first planned to introduce a resolution calling for an indefinite halt on firing range construction, but she says that plan was scrapped in order to get her colleagues to support the bill.


"We have a greater impact when we speak with one voice," Nelson said.

The resolution lists 15 pages of grievances and concerns with the construction at the firing range. When we asked Vice Speaker Nelson's office how long the pause would be for, "indefinite" was the response we were given.

Meanwhile, Minority Leader Sen. Wil Castro is calling for a "special investigative committee" to study claims his colleagues have made that the military is removing and destroying cultural artifacts and critical habitats.

In a release, Castro says he supports "military build up on Guam" but "not at the expense of desecrating" our ancestors and the "obliteration of our CHamoru identity." Castro further says he wants to work with stakeholders to ensure the CHamoru people are preserved and protected while ensuring "future economic prosperity."