Subject: Expand Protections for the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
From: Caleb Laieski <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2014 12:10:51 -0700

Dear President Obama:

Thank you for your commitment to expand the current Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. As the nation with the largest exclusive economic zone in the world, the United States has a tremendous opportunity to be a global leader in protecting our oceans. 

I urge you to expand the monument, and all its protections from extractive activities, to the full 200-nautical-mile limit of U.S. jurisdiction. Your leadership will ensure that we conserve what is one of the richest collections of coral reef, seabird, and shorebird areas under any single nation’s control. 

The five protected areas that make up the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and the waters around them are an ecological treasure unlike anything else in the U.S. Expanding the boundary of the monument out to 200 nautical miles provides protection for an entire ecosystem—from nearshore to the deep sea.

The expanded monument network would protect a treasure trove of unique and irreplaceable natural resources, including:
- Important habitat for endangered species of sea turtles and marine mammals, such as the leatherback sea turtle and the blue whale.
- Remarkably rich coral ecosystems, including some as old as 5,000 years. 
- Feeding and breeding grounds for an estimated 14 million seabirds representing 19 species including the endangered black-footed albatross and Phoenix petrel.
- Nearly 250 seamounts, or undersea mountains, which are hot spots of biodiversity.

These areas are immensely valuable to science and our understanding of how healthy marine environments function. In the view of government experts and scientists who have studied these areas, they also represent the last refuge for fish and wildlife species rapidly vanishing from many other parts of our oceans. 

These remote wilderness areas, with their rich biodiversity and unexplored beauty, will be lost forever unless they are fully protected now. Research shows that fully protected marine reserves are essential to rebuilding species abundance and diversity, and increasing resilience to climate change. Hundreds of leading scientists agree that fully protected—or “no-take”—reserves are critical for reversing the decline of the marine environment and restoring it to health. 

Again, thank you for your commitment to ocean conservation. I urge you to expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument out to the full extent of U.S. jurisdiction and leave an important legacy for future generations of Americans.

Thank you for your time,

Caleb Laieski