On Tuesday, January 6, 2009, President Bush will continue his committment to preserving marine resources with the official designation of three new areas in the Pacific Ocean as U. S. National Monuments.  This designation will provide national protection to over 195,000 square miles of marine habitat.  This continues the legacy of President Bush as one of the most active Presidents in the area of marine preservation and protection.  The new conservation areas are located in Guam, the Central Pacific Islands, and American Samoa.  The following text is quoted from www.bloomberg.com.

Bush to Create Three Protected Sea Areas in the Pacific Ocean

By Catherine Dodge

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush tomorrow will designate three areas in the Pacific Ocean as U.S. national monuments, giving environmental protections to 195,000 square miles of marine habitat.

The designation will limit fishing and regulate other human intervention in areas that environmentalists said include the deepest canyon on the globe, the most pristine coral reefs and the world’s smallest coral atoll.

The areas to be designated are the Mariana Trench and Islands near Guam; the Central Pacific Islands, about 1,500 miles west of Hawaii; and the Rose Atoll in American Samoa.

The move, applauded by environmental groups, is similar to protections Bush gave in 2006 to 140,000 square miles in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and surrounding waters.

Taken together, the two acts mean Bush “has done more to protect unique areas of the world’s oceans than any other person in history,” said Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group in Washington.

“While we and others in the conservation community have frequently been at odds with the president on a variety of environmental issues, this is a memorably positive moment for which Mr. Bush should be roundly applauded,” Reichert said.

The areas will receive the “highest levels of conservation,” said James Connaughton chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, on a conference call today with reporters. “These places are exceptionally dynamic when it comes to the marine environment.”

Diane Regas, managing director of the oceans program at the Environmental Defense Fund in New York, said officials at the organization are “absolutely thrilled.”

“This isn’t a last-minute action, this is something that they have been building the local support for and the science for a couple of years,” she said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Dodge in Washington at Cdodge2@bloomberg.net; Last Updated: January 5, 2009 17:32 EST

Phil Ellis

Buy Brand Name Scuba Equipment at DiveSports.com

A December 18, 2008 press release from Bonnier Corporation in Winter Park, Florida announces another move in the trend of consolidation and reduction in the publication of specialty magazines dedicated to scuba diving. The most well known of the current scuba publications, Scuba Diving Magazine, has recently been acquired by this Florida based publishing company.  Scuba Diving Magazine is the oldest surviving, and most well-known, monthly magazine publication in the scuba industry, and has lately become best known for scuba travel advertising. Bonnier Corporation, a publishing company that specializes in enthusiast publications, is home to some of the most well-known names in sports publications. Their brands include those dedicated to boating and yachting, skiing, snow sports, and a variety of outdoor pursuits. They are most well-known for specific, widely circulated brands like Popular Science and Field and Stream. Bonnier recently acquired Sports Diver magazine.  They are also the publishers of the PADI Undersea Journal, a trade publication for PADI dive instructors and diving professionals.  With the addition of  the Scuba Diving brand , they will clearly be the leader in scuba diving publications and will have a corner on the scuba magazine advertising market.   The addition of the Scuba Diving brand also gives them the popular online presence at scubadiving.com, an online portal very popular with beginning scuba divers.  The text of the Bonnier press release announcing this acquisition is provided below.

New York, NY – Bonnier Corporation, publisher of Sport Diver, today announced the purchase of Scuba Diving magazine from F+W Media Inc. The acquisition positions Bonnier as the dominant media company in the dive industry and expands its presence as the pre-eminent enthusiast sports publisher in the world.

The deal includes a significant new online presence for Bonnier. ScubaDiving.com hosts one of the largest online communities in the dive industry and will complement Sport Diver’s ongoing digital initiatives.

“Scuba Diving is a perfect strategic fit for us,” says Bonnier Corp. CEO Terry Snow. “We serve the enthusiast market better than anyone in the business, so adding Scuba Diving to our existing Sport Diver title will only enhance our relationship with the dive industry and its passionate audience.”

“F+W Media has made a strategic shift from traditional print publisher to integrated media company,” said David Nussbaum, Chairman & CEO of F+W Media. “Our future success will grow from our community model and by giving full focus to our core categories – those with the most opportunity for growth and profit potential through events, competitions, books, magazines and online. Only after a considerable portfolio review did we determine to exit the scuba diving marketplace. We are pleased to be able to place the title with Bonnier, a better strategic fit for the magazine and the category overall.”

“Scuba Diving is a strong and respected brand,” says Dave Freygang, Vice President of Publishing for Bonnier’s Enthusiast Division. “We understand that the lifeblood of the diving industry is bringing in and retaining divers. We will work with our marketing and strategic partners to do just that and, at the same time, offer the industry the best return on investment with the most experienced editorial and sales staffs in the business.”

Scuba Diving and Sport Diver will now be aligned with The Undersea Journal, a publication Bonnier produces for PADI, the sport’s largest certification agency, creating the new Bonnier Dive Group, which will fall under the Enthusiast Group.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Phil Ellis
Buy Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com