One of the main ways that the United States preserves its oceans is through the designation of marine protected areas (MPAs). MPAs have been a huge part of the Biden administration’s “America the Beautiful” initiative and its accompanying 30×30 goal. However, in a very unequal distribution of protection, 96 percent of U.S. MPAs are in the Western Central Pacific Ocean. Additionally, although many of these protected waters are in the U.S. Pacific territories, the American citizens living there have not been given the resources—nor been brought in in equal partnership to manage—these places.