Pacific

Ranchers get reprieve on CNMI's Tinian

16:36 pm on 17 February 2015

Ranchers on Tinian in the Northern Marianas will continue to be able to use land leased by the US military for another year but no permanent location has been identified for them to raise their cattle.

The CNMI government and the Department of Defence have agreed the ranchers can use the land until the end of July next year.

Two thirds of Tinian is leased by the military.

The CNMI started leasing back 2613 hectares of the land west of the Tinian International Airport from the military in 1994 for small agricultural and grazing activities.

After July 2016, the agreement will revert to a month-to-month deal.