House Ways and Means hears DLNR budget; department seeks revolving accounts, staff for biosecurity and land services

The House Ways and Means Committee heard a budget presentation from the Department of Lands and Natural Resources (DLNR) on Tuesday, focusing on staffing shortages, grant delays for invasive‑species work and requests to create revolving accounts for lands and survey and for the Marpi Public Cemetery.

DLNR Secretary Sylvania Somar told the committee the department supports the governor’s budget submission and described operational and staffing challenges across the department’s divisions. “I wanna be clear that whatever the the governor’s submission is, that we fully support, understanding the times our economic, economy is in,” Somar said during the presentation.

The hearing was largely a question‑and‑answer session. Committee members pressed DLNR leaders on vacancy rates, the status of federal grants — including funding routed through the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) and Department of Defense (DOD) — and an array of revolving accounts used by DLNR divisions. No votes or formal funding decisions were taken at the hearing.

Why it matters: DLNR manages fisheries, wildlife, agriculture, parks and land records that affect local subsistence fishers, farmers and property owners across Saipan, Tinian and Rota. Several divisions rely heavily on short‑term federal grant funding that, if delayed, would stall hiring and operations, committee members were repeatedly told.

Staffing, grants and biosecurity: Somar and invasive‑species staff said several federally funded positions remain unfilled while grants undergo environmental review. Somar said the Brown Tree Snake program has nine positions and that “we are now, putting…