FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (May 24, 2019 – Hagåtña) 

Senator Therese Terlaje reiterated her concerns during the two day annual Programmatic Agreement workshop that the avoidance of adverse impacts to historic sites is not being fully achieved and instead the “data recovery” which is the removal of a sampling of archaeologically relevant material (i.e. latte, lusong, earth ovens, pottery pieces, etc.), is often the option being utilized for several important historic sites. This includes the Northwest Field live fire training range location on the plateau above to Ritidian/Litekyan, where over 100 historic sites have been discovered and 14 will not be protected.  

Senator Terlaje implored the DOD officials during the meeting to preserve the historic properties as they are, in their place and together with the landscape, for  people to experience in person and for future technology to help us decipher the history of the Chamorro people. She also advocated that historic sites adjacent to Ritidian and Finegayan near the proposed construction areas be prioritized to be nominated to the National Register of Historic Properties, such as the the entire archeological district near Pugua Point, Double Reef and Finegayan. Guam’s SHPO has recommended this whole area be nominated to the Register but it was rejected. SHPO again asked it be reconsidered as a traditional cultural property (TCP) for preservation because of its significance with at least 17 historic properties.  

“These PA meetings remind us that the Navy is not required to avoid historic sites in their construction. The DOD may clear and grade and bulldoze these properties regardless of historic significance, when their construction plans require it. Pursuant to the Agreement, some but not all artifacts are removed from the site and stored in bags and boxes for our children, but the Navy is not obligated to preserve for us the ability to stand next to a lusong and look at the cliff, ocean, and surroundings and imagine why our ancestors chose that location to live.  We cannot put an earth oven in a museum and fully appreciate that it was made from the earth and literally built into the earth. These historic and cultural sites are the last remnants of our story as a Chamorro people and must be preserved within the cultural landscape of our island to provide more depth and a better understanding of our ancestors,” Terlaje states. 

Updates were also provided at this year’s annual workshop meeting on the Live Fire Training Range Complex at Northwest Field near Ritidian. Clearing of vegetation, including the cutting down and uprooting of trees has begun in the last few weeks as DOD continues to move forward with clearing of some of Guam’s pristine limestone forests. Already, new discoveries of dense artifacts including at least 400 pieces of pottery pieces have been uncovered in the short time that clearing has started.  

Senator Terlaje has sent several letters over the last three years to the previous Governor and today to the current Governor detailing her concerns with the Programmatic Agreement, requesting for a halt of the clearing and construction where historic properties and limestone forest habitat will be impacted. She will continue to urge Adelup and DOD to use all resources available to stop any further destruction of our ancient villages, cultural sites and limestone forests and revisit the timeline and “data recovery” plan that is in place for the historic properties adjacent to Ritidian before further clearing is done. 

For the third consecutive year, at the invitation of the State Historic Preservation Office, Senator Therese Terlaje attended the Annual Guam Programmatic Agreement (PA) Workshop. This was the 7th annual PA Workshop hosted by the Department of Defense, pursuant to the 2011 Programmatic Agreement relative to historic properties affected by DOD buildup projects, with PA signatories, various leaders from the DOD regional command, representatives from the Governor’s office and members of the 35th Guam Legislature.