WE THE UNDERSIGNED, hereby express our strong opposition to H.R. 4402, entitled “The Guam Military Training and Readiness Act of 2014,” introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 4, 2014, and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs. 

OUR OBJECTIONS TO THIS PROPOSED LEGISLATION INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

• H.R. 4402 would have adverse impacts on the operation of the Guam National Wildlife Refuge, which serves a critical role in conserving the natural and cultural heritage of Guam, and its place as an important recreational and educational destination of over 92,000 Guam residents and tourists each year, including over 12,000 school children who come to the Guam NWR each year to learn about conservation and the island’s traditional habitat.
• H.R. 4402 would restrict public access to Guam’s best public beach, the oldest known and longest-lasting ancient Chamorro settlement site, and the only place on the island where visitors can experience Guam’s abundant natural resources and fragile ecosystem unimpaired by human activity.
• H.R. 4402 would undermine the Guam National Wildlife Refuge’s founding mission to protect and recover nine species listed under the Endangered Species Act, including the Guam Micronesian kingfisher, Guam rail, Mariana crow, Mariana fruit bat, Vanikoro swiftlet, Mariana common moorhen, two species of sea turtles, and the hayun lagu tree.
• H.R. 4402 would undermine the role the Guam National Wildlife Refuge plays as “Ground Zero” in the efforts to contain and reverse further spread of the brown tree snake (BTS) elsewhere in the Pacific, particularly Hawai’i, where its introduction would have devastating economic and environmental consequences, thereby compromising the wildlife heritage of Guam.
• H.R. 4402 is inconsistent with, and would undermine, current federal laws including the Endangered Species Act, the National Wildlife Refuge Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act.
•  H.R. 4402 would allow the Department of Defense to ignore its responsibility under the present NEPA process, issued April 18, 2014, to seek public input and comment regarding the seven alternative sites being considered for a live-fire training range complex (LFTRC). By legislatively preselecting a location, without regard to the irreparable harm that would inevitable befall Ritidian Point, H.R.  4402 would undermine the public interest in preserving Ritidian Point’s vital legacy of cultural, educational, aesthetic and inspirational benefits for the Chamorro people, other residents of Guam, and the people of the United States, for current and future generations.