More of that "global force for good" at work in the world: the US Navy has announced its intention to sacrifice another idyllic Pacific island to "live fire" exercises, the military equivalent of push-ups. The list of islands severely ecologically damaged or made uninhabitable by bombs, rockets and shells including radioactive munitions is a long one: Bikini, Kwajelein, Farallon de Medinilla, Vieques, Kaho'olawe, Ka'ula, Diego Garcia, Tinian etc. It as if the Navy is geriatric war veteran who constantly wants to relieve his glory days assaulting one more beach, far away. The target this time is Pagan Island (Pah-GAN) in the North Marianas, a beautiful ten mile long fragment of tropical
terra firma formed by two volcanoes, one of them active. The
Chamorro people call it home and some want to return there after being evacuated in 1981 when Mt. Pagan erupted. A few Chamorros still live there full time. However, if the Navy and Marines get their way, that hope will be dashed as the military intends "use the entire island with the full spectrum of weapons and joint training activities."
Beside an indigenous human population, Pagan has unique animal and plant species that live in the remnants of forest on the slopes of the currently inactive southern volcano. The Mariana fruit bat,
Pteropus mariannus, lives there as well as the Micronesian Megapode,
Megapodius laperouse, endangered throughout its range. University of Hawaii biologist Michael Hadfield and colleagues performed a biological survey of the island in May 2010, primarily looking for a rare tree snail,
Partula gibba. A few hundred live in the southern caldera and genetic testing confirms they are unique to Pagan. The proposed military training will certainly disturb the ecologically valuable topsoil of the island as well as surrounding coral reefs. Toxic debris and even unexploded ordinance will carpet the training areas making it the island uninhabitable. Chammoro activists are appealing to the Northern Marianas government to prevent beautiful Pagan from becoming another wasteland* like Farralon de Mendinilla by declaring it homestead land for displaced natives who want to return. The "global force for good" is not so good in any language for beautiful islands full of life.
*Kaho'olawe was blasted to bare rock by the US military from 1941 until 1990. Operation "Sailor Hat" in 1965 was the denotation of 500 tons of TNT to measure blast effects on nearby ships. The resulting crater cracked the islands cap rock causing the loss of groundwater to the sea.
