ASAN, Guam (April 22, 2024) – The Department of Defense (DoD) along with the Government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) convened the inaugural CNMI Environmental and Land Stewardship Working Group (ELSWG) mid-March in Saipan.

“The CNMI ELSWG began as an idea to coordinate and share information about military training in the Mariana Island Range Complex,” said Randel Sablan, senior advisor, regional political-military affairs at Joint Region Marianas (JRM). “In addition to coordination with our CNMI partners in regard to military training and environmental mitigation efforts, with the ELSWG framework, we have offered to cover topics and issues across the spectrum of military activities in the CNMI.”

During the meeting, members engaged in discussions on environmental and land topics focusing on the development of various projects throughout the CNMI. Topics discussed during the meeting included the Tinian North Field rehabilitation, Divert Airfield construction update, the CNMI Joint Military Training Project RDEIS update and status of the JRM Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan, to name a few.

“We take seriously our responsibility to stewardship of the environment and lands in the CNMI,” said Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, commander, Joint Region Marianas, and the U.S. Indo-PACOM Senior Military Official. “Frequent communications with the CNMI government at all levels is absolutely essential to understanding the priorities of the community. I am pleased to see the progress our teams are making to balance our military mission requirements in the CNMI and our commitment to environmental stewardship.”

JRM, through the regional environmental coordinator and political-military affairs advisor, functions as the lead DoD representative for organizing and conducting these meetings. Along with JRM and the government of the CNMI, other stakeholders are included in the meetings. These groups include U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Pacific Air Forces, and U.S. Marine Forces Pacific.

Future meetings will be coordinated regularly to address military environmental, land use, and development initiatives associated with service component planning, operations, training and testing in the CNMI.