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Tammy L. Shaw, J.D.

On December 4, President Clinton issued an executive order establishing the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve (Reserve).1 The 84 million-acre reserve is the largest protected area ever created in the United States and encompasses about 70 percent of the coral reefs within U.S. waters.

Coordinated Management Scheme
Acting on a commitment of ocean stewardship, President Clinton created the U.S. Coral Task Force in 1998 to lead efforts to map and monitor U.S. coral reefs, to research the cause of coral reef degradation and to implement international strategies for conservation of these ecosystems. Furthering those efforts, President Clinton instructed the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce to work with the State of Hawaii and the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council in developing recommendations for a coordinated management scheme that would provide strong protection for the Northwestern Hawaiian Coral Reef ecosystem. The Departments of Commerce and Interior held public meetings throughout Hawaii, bringing in state officials, state congressional delegations, fisheries managers and native Hawaiian groups to discuss alternatives for conserving these coral reef ecosystems. The establishment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve is based on those recommendations and comes on the heels of an announcement made just weeks earlier at the International Coral Reef Symposium that without new protection, as much as 50 percent of the world's coral reef would disappear over the next 25 years.2
 

Rain Forests of the Sea
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve includes submerged lands and water, covering an area approximately 12,000 nautical miles by 100 nautical miles adjacent to and seaward of the seaward boundaries of the State of Hawaii. This area supports more than 7000 marine species, including the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and a variety of threatened and endangered sea turtles. The area also has considerable cultural, historic and geological significance and is made up of some of the healthiest and most extensive coral reefs in the United States. Described as the "rain forests of the sea," these marine ecosystems make up some of the world's most biologically diverse ecosystems.
 

The Executive Order
Executive Order 13,178 provides for the following activities.
. Establishes the Northwestern Hawaiian Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, the principal purpose of which is long-term conservation and protection of the coral reef and related marine resources.
. Prohibits oil, gas and mineral production, discharge or disposal of materials and removal of coral.
. Caps commercial and recreational fishing at current levels, allowing native Hawaiian subsistence and cultural uses to continue within the Reserve boundaries.
. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a council that will ensure continued input from the scientific and environmental community, the fishing and tourism industries, local and state officials and native groups.
. Designates fifteen "preservation areas" within the Reserve where fishing, anchoring and collecting or touching coral is prohibited.
. Initiates the process to designate the Reserve as a national marine sanctuary under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act.
 

The Reserve will be managed by state and federal agencies and other entities, allowing not only conservation activities but also research programs to be conducted within the Reserve area.
 

The designation of the Coral Reef Reserve under an executive order is just one of the latest in a series of executive actions that the Clinton administration has used to set aside environmentally sensitive lands for preservation and protection. Relying on the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Clinton has created and expanded national monuments, designating thirteen new national monuments and restricting development in many western states. He also has issued other executive orders to stop timber harvesting and to declare areas of national parks and national forest "roadless areas," further restricting development in environmentally sensitive areas. These highly controversial measures have set off a firestorm of debate regarding whether President Clinton overstepped his authority in dodging congressional opposition to many of his environmental protection measures. Many political opponents argue that the new administration, under President-elect George W. Bush, may act to overturn these new designations, taking away much of the environmental protection and preservation that President Clinton seeks to leave as his environmental legacy.

ENDNOTES
1. Exec. Order No. 13178, 65 Fed. Reg. 76903 (2000).
2. See NOAA News Online at http://hawaiireef.noaa.gov/.

University of Mississippi