Sens. Jesse Lujan and Joanne Brown, as well as staffers from the offices of Sens. Thomas Fisher and Amanda Shelton, joined Sen. Roy Quinata in a tour of the Marine Corp Base Camp Blaz Friday.
Quinata, head of the legislative committee overseeing the military buildup, organized the tour for members to learn more about the military’s efforts and to promote open dialogue between local lawmakers and military officials.
“It is important to me that our legislators are informed about what is happening at the Marine base,” Quinata stated in a release after the tour. “I want them to be able to make informed decisions that benefit all parties involved. This tour will provide them with a firsthand look into what is taking place there and will allow for meaningful conversations with leaders in our region.”
Also in attendance was Vera Topasna, the executive director of the Community Defense Liaison Office, and State Historic Preservation Officer Patrick Lujan.
From the military’s side, Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, commander of Joint Region Marianas, and JRM Command Master Chief William Webster participated in the tour, along with Camp Blaz leadership and staff, according to a release from the Marine Corps base.
“I’m grateful to the senators and their staff for taking time out of their busy schedules to visit Camp Blaz,” Nicholson stated in the military’s release. “It’s incredibly important that we continue to be transparent with the community throughout the construction process, and this opportunity allows the Legislature to see firsthand the facilities and the ongoing mitigation efforts aboard Camp Blaz. It also arms the members with information to directly address their constituents’ questions and, hopefully, leave here more informed about Camp Blaz.”
Officials discussed a range of topics during the tour, including cultural and natural resource management, range operations, the defense of Guam, civilian infrastructure, civilian/military partnerships, school capacity, and military housing.
Lawmakers visited the base’s Urban Training Complex, not only to tour the grenade range and training facilities but also to discuss cultural resource mitigation efforts at that location, according to the military’s release.
“During the construction efforts, our trained team of archaeologists discovered several significant cultural sites,” Col. Christopher Bopp, commanding officer of MCB Camp Blaz, stated in the release.
“To date, all burial sites have been left in place and construction projects, from buildings to roads, have been modified to ensure the individuals buried by the hands of their loved ones generations ago, would be preserved in their original context. I want to be clear that we are not and have not removed individuals from the locations where they were originally laid to rest,” Bopp added.
About 15 burial sites have so far been identified at the training complex, according to Lujan.
“It’s been handled properly. So, they’ve been following the requirements and the guidelines of notification and the proper handling of human remains, the discovery of human remains. We’ve been working closely on the proper caring for that. Preservation in place, pretty much leaving it as they were found and with them kind of redesigning whatever was initially intended for that specific location,” Lujan said.
‘Well aware’ of efforts
Following the tour, Lujan said he did not see anything surprising and had no concerns, as he worked regularly with military officials on the buildup projects.
“I’m well aware of the projects and what’s going on and the handling of all of the projects,” Lujan said.
There had been concerns in the past, in the larger history of the buildup, but the military had made adjustments when things didn’t seem right, and from an archaeological standpoint, things appear to be going well now, Lujan added.
Lawmakers also visited a nursery created to rehabilitate and propagate native plants and trees.
“These plants and trees will eventually be out-planted in the forest enhancement area surrounding the base. Since 2020, deer and pig were removed from more than 1,200 acres of forest surrounding Camp Blaz. With the ungulates gone, the team planted more than 1,000 native, threatened trees, a step to restoring the northern plateau’s limestone forests that are overrun by invasive plant and animal species,” the military’s release stated.
The group also visited aviation facilities at Andersen Air Force Base, toured the live-fire training range to discuss range operations, and stopped at the main cantonment to tour construction progress.
“This tour provides us with an invaluable opportunity to engage directly with our military partners here on Guam,” Quinata stated in his release. “It is my hope that through this exchange we can continue to foster a healthy and transparent relationship between our branch of government and the military on Guam.”
By: John O’Connor
Source: The Guam Daily Post