President George Bush and Jean-Michel Cousteau confer during the White House ceremony designating the creation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument, June 15, 2006. Photo credit: Kathryn Feldt

More than a century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt took the bold step to set aside land for future generations that we know as our national park system.

“Every man who appreciates the majesty and beauty of the wilderness should strike hands with the far-sighted men who wish to preserve our material resources—all living creatures from woodland to seashore—from wanton destruction,” Roosevelt said in explaining his action. “Above all, we should recognize that the effort toward this end is essentially a democratic movement. But, this end can only be achieved by wise laws and by a resolute enforcement of laws.”

By all measures, Roosevelt’s preservation of vast tracks of land for the public ranks, not only as one of his greatest legacies, but one of the most important initiatives by an American president.

While our national park system today enjoys unprecedented popularity, few Americans know we also have an equally astonishing collection of 13 national marine sanctuaries that stretch from the Great Lakes to the Eastern seaboard to the Gulf of Mexico, along the West Coast, Hawaii and across the Pacific to American Samoa. These sanctuaries safeguard habitats and species that are as much a part of our heritage and territorial inheritance as our national parks are on land.

But, the news about the health of our ocean worldwide has been bleak. More than 90 percent of large fish in the ocean are gone—fished to near extinction. Pollution and global warming are killing coral reefs and creating “dead zones” where literally nothing lives in the sea. Deep ocean trawling is devastating corals and seamounts that may hold the undiscovered compounds to cure human diseases from cancer to AIDS.

Our nation and the world could use some good news when it comes to the ocean. And, we have it in the historic announcement this week by President Bush to make the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands the world's largest protected marine area, and America’s newest National Monument. The 140,000 square mile site will be off-limits to commercial and recreational fishing.

Why should we care about protecting a long chain of islands and atolls that reach 1,200 miles from Honolulu into the vast northern Pacific Ocean? This near pristine environment, teaming with indigenous and endangered species and extraordinary habitats, is under siege from marine debris, ravenous commercial fishing interests and the effects of human irresponsibility. It is a fragile ecosystem that is as beautiful as a porcelain figurine and as easily broken.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are as much a part of our natural treasury as Yosemite, the Great Smokey Mountains or The Grand Canyon. This archipelago holds enormous cultural significance for Polynesians and for the families whose relatives fought and died for our freedom on Midway Island in World War II in the center of its chain. It is America and it is a last wild place.

Preservation of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a national monument would safeguard an area as large as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and larger than all 13 other marine sanctuaries combined. This is a monumental endeavor that President Bush has chosen. I had the privilege to show the President and Mrs. Bush a two-hour episode of our documentary, filmed by our Ocean Futures Society, PBS and KQED, about these islands at the White House in April. He was immediately and decisively affected by the impending plight of what he witnessed. I remember him turning to his guests and staff after he watched the episode and saying about the sanctuary designation, “We need to get it done.”

We cannot dismiss President Bush’s resolve to save this unique part of America and a critical part of our ocean. Most of all, the President has begun what needs to be done to do justice to this incredible place for all Americans…for the world…and for future generations.

Many of us have worked for years to raise awareness of this part of our planet on the brink. We have spoken of its peril until we were hoarse. But, now we have consensus and a clarion call to rally around. I urge Congress and the American public to meet the President’s challenge.

President Roosevelt said, “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value.”

Creating the national monument with the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands keeps that compact with the public. It also safeguards for each of us a part of our humanity. If you protect the ocean, you protect yourself.

President Bush's speech

Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument - Fact sheet

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