The island of Saipan is running out of room, creating a problem for the growing indigenous population. The island’s constitution grants every person of indigenous descent in the northern Marianas a homestead lot. With only about seven percent of the island currently uninhabited, the Marianas Public Lands Authority (MPLA) now faces some 4,000 pending homestead requests. The MPLA plans to more strictly evaluate the homestead applicants in an effort to reduce this number.
