⁣Ten months ago, Prutehi Litekyan transmitted a letter to State Historic Preservation Officer Patrick Lujan urging that he invoke Stipulation 13 of the Programmatic Agreement objecting to further buildup construction with impacts to cultural heritage sites due to inadequate background research, the desecration of our ancestral burials, and the permanent destruction of our land, endangered species, and invaluable resources, including the risk of compromising our island’s main water source.⠀

Recently, Prutehi Litekyan supporters flooded the inboxes of mayors, senators, military officials, SHPO Lujan and our governor with concerns about impacts to cultural and environmental resources. Every single person who submitted our template or comment urged him and our leaders to take action!

We thank all protectors who submitted comments.⠀

We appreciate that SHPO Lujan finally acted and invoked the stipulation to assess impacts to historic properties. This means that starting today, there will be a 45-day consultation period to “resolve the objection” and find a resolution. During this period, all buildup construction is halted. If a resolution is not found within the 45-day period, Joint Region Mariånas must refer the matter to the Advisory Council on Historic Places for further input. We hope that future actions are done with a greater sense of urgency in the best interests of our community, cultural heritage and environment.

We’ve learned of what has been described as a “significant” archaeological discovery at one of the sites pegged for firing range construction. We are in the process of learning more about these findings and we will be sure to inform all supporters of further details once we hear more. 

To read our full letter to SHPO Lujan and his July 30 letter invoking Stipulation 13, visit Prutehi Litekyan's pages on Instagram and Facebook.

Kon Respetu,
PLSR