policy letter

December 10, 2001 Ms. Samantha Whitcraft Ocean Resources Manager Kaho'alawe Island Reserve 811 Kolu St., #210 Wailuku, HI 96793 Fax: 808-243-5885 ACS fully supports the proposed Administrative Rules addressing the expansion of the Marine Protected Area of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve in Hawaii.

The American Cetacean Society, the oldest whale and dolphin conservation organization in the United States, fully supports the proposed Administrative Rules addressing the expansion of the Marine Protected Area of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve in Hawaii.

In addition to the essential mission of ACS being conservation, research and education, our organization has specific policies supporting marine sanctuaries.

Policy: Marine Biodiversity
The American Cetacean Society's goals and mission include the protection of all cetaceans, their environment, and the marine ecosystems they inhabit. Ecosystems protection and the preservation of biological diversity, both marine and terrestrial, are inter-dependent. ACS therefore supports the protection of coastal lagoons, estuaries, and wetlands, the preservation of which is crucial to the life cycles, food webs and chains of many cetaceans and other aquatic animals.

Policy: National Marine Sanctuaries
The American Cetacean Society supports and endorses the National Marine Sanctuary Program administered by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Policy: Marine Sanctuaries
ACS is dedicated to the support of efforts to provide sanctuaries for marine mammals.

Best of luck with your effort to improve the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve. If ACS can help in any further way, please let me know.

Respectfully,

Bonnie Gretz
American Cetacean Society
National Conservation Chair