US mulls protecting vast swaths of Pacific

Vast swaths of US Pacific Ocean waters could be protected as marine sanctuaries or monuments, the White House said on Monday, drawing praise from environmental groups.

President George W. Bush started the process by directing the US secretaries of the Interior, Defense and Commerce departments to assess whether certain locations in the Pacific should be designated as marine protected areas, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

The areas being considered for protection in the new plan are a group of islands and atolls in the remote central Pacific, including the Rose Atoll near American Samoa, and some of the waters around the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific.