[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 49 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Pages 2967-2969]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Establishment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral 
Reef Ecosystem Reserve

December 4, 2000

    Good morning, and thank you, President Fahey, for making us feel so 
welcome at National Geographic; Secretary Mineta; Under Secretary of 
NOAA Baker. To all the members of the Coral Reef Task Force and the 
Ocean Exploration Panel, I welcome you.
    I want to say a special word of appreciation to Peter Benchley for 
the work that he has done for nearly a lifetime now and for the remarks 
he made. And I thank our two native Hawaiians who are here, Tammy 
Leilani Harp, who spoke before me, and our Hawaiian elder, who's 
affectionately known as Uncle Buzzy. Thank you very much for being here.
    I want to thank the National Geographic for giving us a place to 
make this announcement and for all the years of helping people to 
understand the universe and this small planet. We are fortunate to live 
in an age of unprecedented discovery, most of it in the biological 
sciences. It seems that almost every day there is another unlocking of a 
secret of subatomic particles or the complexities of the human genome. 
But we're also discovering more and more evidence every day that our 
human activity is profoundly affecting and, in some cases overwhelming, 
the natural systems that surround and sustain us on our planet.
    For 8 years now we have worked to act on this understanding to 
better protect our natural resources for future generations. We have 
created and expanded national parks, established 11 national monuments, 
saved the California redwoods, protected the Yellowstone National Park 
from gold mining. We're restoring the Florida Everglades and preserving 
vistas of the Grand Canyon, and we are setting aside over 40 million 
roadless acres in our national forests. All together, this amounts to 
more land protection in the 48 continental States than any 
administration since that of Teddy Roosevelt a century ago.
    But we must recognize that, just as land is an important part of our 
legacy in the preservation of our ecosystem, so, too, is our water. We 
launched a nationwide effort to clean up polluted rivers, lakes, and 
streams. We created new marine sanctuaries, in Michigan, Massachusetts, 
Florida, Washington, and Hawaii. We also organized the first National 
Oceans Conference to develop a strategy to protect the seas. Today the 
Department of Commerce--and, Secretary Mineta, I thank you for your 
leadership on this--is releasing a comprehensive report, ``Discovering 
Earth's Final Frontier.'' It charts a bold course for U.S. ocean 
exploration in the 21st century. And I want to thank Secretary Mineta, 
Dr. Marcia McNutt, and the other members of the Ocean Exploration Panel 
for their work.
    We have a lot of work to do. Many, many important ecosystems are 
disappearing just

[[Page 2968]]

as we begin to grasp their unique significance, their role in regulating 
our climate, their potential for producing lifesaving medicines. A lot 
of people are most familiar with the destruction of the rain forests and 
worldwide efforts to save them. Today I want to focus on what we're 
doing with the people of Hawaii to save the rainforests of the sea, our 
coral reefs.
    These remarkable living structures, built cell by cell over millions 
of years, are at once irreplaceable and valuable. Coral reefs are 
beautiful, but more than that, they're home to thousands of species of 
fish and wildlife found nowhere else on Earth. Worldwide reefs generate 
millions of dollars through fishing and tourism, putting food on our 
tables and sustaining coastal communities. Coral reefs also protect 
these same communities from the pounding waves of fierce storms. And 
like the rain forests, they're providing us new hope for medical 
breakthroughs.
    Unfortunately, the world's reefs are in peril. Pollution, damage 
from dynamite fishing, coral poachers, unwise coastal development, and 
global warming already have killed over 25 percent of the world's reefs. 
In some areas, such as the Central Indian Ocean, 90 percent of the coral 
reefs have died, bleached as white as dead bone.
    Now, this is not an isolated problem. Scientists at last month's 
International Coral Reef Symposium presented strong evidence that unless 
we take action now, half the world's coral reefs will disappear within 
25 years. Recently, scientists have shown a strong correlation between 
global warming and the rising ocean temperatures that contribute to reef 
destruction.
    Recognizing the urgency of this challenge, we remain committed to 
reaching an international agreement to implement the Kyoto Protocol and 
to cut the production of greenhouse gases. And despite the recent 
delays, I still believe that we will get a good agreement. The stakes 
are too high to let this imperative slip away.
    We have reached the crossroads in the development of our natural 
world. How many times in our lives, each of us, have we dismissed 
something that went wrong, or that we did wrong, with the phrase, ``It's 
just a drop in the ocean''? Now we have solid proof that millions, even 
billions of these drops in the ocean are having a profound, lasting, and 
destructive impact on the oceans and the world around us. So we act now 
to hopefully save our seas and our reefs so that we do not lose their 
beauty, their bounty, and their protective qualities forever.
    What can we do to turn the tide? What steps can we take? Well, at my 
direction, the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior have been working 
closely with the scientific, environmental, fishing, and native 
communities in Hawaii to determine what can be done to save the vast 
majority of our remaining coral reefs. At the same time, they solicited 
public comment and received over a thousand comments from concerned 
citizens. Ultimately, this unprecedented coalition has recommended a 
bold and visionary initiative. Today I am proud to protect America's 
greatest unspoiled reefs by creating the single largest nature preserve 
ever established in the United States, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 
Coral Reef Reserve. [Applause] Thank you.
    This pristine, largely uninhabited archipelago covers more area than 
Florida and Georgia combined. Integrated into our National Marine 
Sanctuary Program, the new reserve will encompass nearly 70 percent of 
our Nation's coral reefs. This area is a special place where the sea is 
a living rainbow. The only voices, those of half the world's last 
remaining monk seals and the cry of sea birds wheeling in the sky.
    In creating this unique preserve, we're establishing the strongest 
level of protection for oceans ever enacted and setting a new global 
standard for reef and marine wildlife protection. Together, we will 
safeguard the most sensitive areas, permit sustainable fishing and eco-
tourism and others, and enable native Hawaiians to honor their age-old 
traditions.
    The islands and reefs we're protecting today have long played an 
important role in the history of the Pacific. Archaeologists tell us 
that more than a thousand years ago, local islanders drew sustenance 
from their brilliant turquoise waters. Centuries later, Charles Darwin 
marveled at the wildlife there during his historic voyage. And none of 
us can ever forget, for 4 bloody days in 1942, America's

[[Page 2969]]

bravest heroes drew a line in the sand there, winning the Battle of 
Midway and changing the course of World War II and history.
    Today we renew our commitment to winning the battle to protect our 
global environment, preserving this natural heritage for a long time--I 
hope forever.
    Let me say, it was nearly a century ago, ironically, when President 
Roosevelt recognized the same imperative and created the Hawaiian 
Islands National Wildlife Refuge. He knew then that our natural wonders, 
on land or sea, form an integral part of who we are as a people and that 
every generation of Americans must do its part to sustain and strengthen 
this legacy. Today we do just that, incorporating the refuge he created 
into a new, vast, and wonderful ``Yellowstone of the Sea.''
    By any measure, creating this coral reserve is a big step forward, 
not just for marine conservation in the United States but for the health 
of oceans and reefs around the world.
    For thousands of years, people have risked their lives to master the 
ocean. Now, suddenly, the ocean's life is at risk. We have the resources 
and responsibility to rescue the sea, to renew the very oceans that give 
us life, and thereby to renew ourselves. Today is an important step on 
that road.
    But there is much, much more to be done in the years ahead. And I 
hope that no matter who becomes President--[laughter]--no matter what 
the partisan divide of Congress, that those of you who are here in this 
room will continue this work for the rest of your lives. It is 
profoundly important, and how our grandchildren live depends upon how 
well we do this work.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:20 a.m. in the Grosvenor Auditorium at 
the National Geographic Museum. In his remarks, he referred to John M. 
Fahey, Jr., president and chief executive officer, National Geographic 
Society; author Peter Benchley; Tammy Leilani Harp, member, Native and 
Indigenous Rights Advisory Panel to the Western Pacific Region Fishery 
Management Council; Louis (Uncle Buzzy) Agard, board member, Native 
Hawaiian Advisory Council; and Marcia K. McNutt, president and chief 
executive officer, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.