KAILUA, KONA, Hawai'i — The U.S. territorial government of the Northern Mariana Islands is clashing with the Bush administration and conservationists planning protection of the ocean surrounding several Pacific atolls and reefs.

A delegation from Saipan made it clear last week at meetings of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force that they don't appreciate the ambitious marine protection efforts of the federal government or the Pew Charitable Trust.

Last Monday, Bush proposed protecting three remote island chains, including the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, launching what could be the largest ocean conservation effort in history. The plan also targets eight islands and coral reef atolls in the central Pacific that are part of American Samoa and the Line Islands.

Saipan's governor, who was represented by a delegation at the Big Island meetings, has written Bush opposing the plan. Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said his government is capable of managing, developing and protecting the waters without the federal government or a nonprofit organization like Pew.

"We rely on fishing as a source of food and jobs," Fitial wrote Bush in April. "Those who live in the CNMI have no interest in ceding their cultural heritage to the federal government under the auspices of environmental protectionism."

In a memo to three Cabinet secretaries, Bush asked for a plan to protect parts of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on the planet, as well as waters around Rose Atoll in American Samoa and various other islands and reefs under U.S. jurisdiction.

The proposal, expected to be final before Bush leaves office, could establish marine sanctuaries or national monuments modeled on the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Ray Mafnas, the Saipan governor's senior policy adviser, said at the very least Northern Marianas leaders should be included in the process.

"They can't do this unilaterally. Lawmakers, legislators, mayors and many of the people oppose making it a national monument," Mafnas said. "All the ideas, all the funding, all the good things we welcome, but why should we have to relinquish control? And what are we doing that's harming the trench anyway?"

Mafnas also said only indigenous people are allowed to own and control land in the islands, so any move to establish a monument would violate the agreement between the Northern Marianas and the United States.

"It's trying to line up a legacy for President Bush. Pew is trying to build an international reputation on our backs," he said. "They can't fool us."

Jay Nelson, global ocean legacy director for Pew who was also at the Kailua, Kona conference, said the situation was tense and he had not had discussions with Mafnas or any other CNMI delegate.

However, he said, some of the bitter feelings might be misplaced.

"We don't make any of the decisions. We just persuade and educate," he said. "This is biologically and geologically significant. It's not just fishing versus conservation."

Nelson said the trench is one of the world's most fascinating features and deserves to be protected.

"If this were on land, it would have been protected 100 years ago," he said.

Nelson said the Pew assessment is that a monument would be a benefit to the Northern Marianas.

"The area has never provided any economic benefit for CNMI. It doesn't have sufficient fish to support an industry, so there really is no fishing up there," Nelson said. "This would create 400 jobs and bring in $14 million annually, and that's a low-ball figure."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said last week the areas are host to "some of the world's most biodiverse coral reefs and habitat, and some of the most interesting and compelling geological formations in all of our oceans."