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Three new telescopes
approved for summit
of Mauna KeaUH Astronomy gets new chief
By Rod Thompson
Star-BulletinHILO -- Over the reservations of University of Hawaii regent Nainoa Thompson, the Board of Regents approved a new astronomy and management plan for the summit of Mauna Kea this morning which allows for up to three new observatory sites at the summit.
"I think it's a good science plan. I think other issues need to be addressed equally," Thompson said of the proposed Mauna Kea Science Reserve Master Plan last night after a committee of regents approved the proposal. "I truly believe things have not been taken care of properly" since the 1983 Mauna Kea plan, he said.
His comments followed five hours of public testimony before the committee in which 42 people, many of them astronomers, supported the new plan and 39 people, many of them Hawaiians, opposed it.
The approval was accompanied by a resolution which asks for a moratorium on new telescopes, other than those already approved by contract, until a series of new management measures are put in place.
As part of the plan, a new Mauna Kea Management Office will be set up and based at the University of Hawaii-Hilo rather than Manoa.
"The day to day operations will be localized here. This is a fundamental change in the management of Mauna Kea and in the relationship between the universities," University President Kenneth Mortimer said today.
One of the functions of the office would be to hire rangers to protect Hawaiian cultural sites at the summit.
Mortimer was also directed to find funding of more than the $400,000 per year for the office.
As expected, the number of new observatories in the plan was reduced from five to three, and wording was added noting that the biggest of the proposals, a theoretical New Generation Large Telescope, can't be built anytime soon because the technology doesn't exist yet. The telescopes will be built on a 150-acre area.
Answering criticism that previous observatories bypassed environmental laws, the new plan requires an environmental study and detailed justification for each proposal.
Before last night's vote, Thompson said all of these measures were steps in the right direction, but they don't answer questions of "stewardship" of the land at Mauna Kea and the issue of payment for the use of ceded (former royal and kingdom) lands, partially intended to benefit Hawaiians.
"I want to see a real commitment, over time, of leadership" before approving the plan, he said. Although the audience was divided between those oriented toward science and those oriented toward Hawaiian culture, Thompson said he needed both to navigate the canoe Hokule'a.
Some native Hawaiian groups however, suggested there could be protests and civil disobedience over new telescopes.
"We're going to stop this any rebellious way possible," said Bo Kahui, who noted that Hawaiians were able to get back Kahoolawe from the military and a similar effort may be applied to astronomy on Mauna Kea.
"We are the ones to be arrested, but you make the choice," Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Mililani Trask told the regents.
Despite the strong words and emotions, six-hour meeting was orderly.
