Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen fired off a letter Thursday to President Clinton asking him to reconsider the size of proposed national monuments for the territory.
Christensen wrote the letter following three hearings called to get public input on the impending national monument designations for submerged lands near St. Croix's Buck Island and around the V.I. National Park on St. John
Christensen said in a statement that she had already written to President Clinton in December to voice her concerns about the impact the designation would have on the livelihoods of traditional fishermen.
"I told the president that while I support the preservation of our coral reefs and other sensitive marine-ecosystem resources, I believe that the livelihoods of traditional fishermen should be protected," she said.
Local fishermen were vehement in their opposition to the national monument plan, which would affect nearly 50 square miles off St. John and St. Croix.
In her letter Thursday to the President, Christensen said the area in question is too large and asked him to scale back the proposals. There is also some question as to who owns the lands identified for the proposed monuments, the V.I. government or the Department of Interior.
"We would instead like to see the size of the monuments reduced, and that allowances be made to accommodate traditional uses such as fishing," she said.
The fishermen's small operations, she said, should have a minimal impact on the undersea environment compared to such problems as non-point source pollution.
Clinton has until Jan. 20 to either approve, modify or reject the Department of Interior's monument designation recommendations.
