By Cherrie A. E. Villahermosa
SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Nov. 1) – The jury trial of a businessman charged with taking endangered species in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands has begun.
The defendant, Soleman, is engaged in the charcoal business on Saipan, and is represented by attorney Robert T. Torres. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Moran is the prosecutor.
Moran, in his opening argument yesterday, said Soleman instructed his employees to cut tangan-tangan trees in 2005 and turn them into charcoal that was to be sold to the public.
He said Soleman had caused harm to and harassed an endangered species — the nightingale reed warbler.
Tangan-tangan [weed] trees are the territorial habitats of nightingale reed warblers, which can be found only on the islands of Saipan and Alamagan.
Moran said these birds are protected by federal law.
[PIR editor’s note: According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife website, the...