With the Thirty Meter Telescope project nearing a key regulatory hurdle, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents is expected to reassert its commitment to the stewardship of the Mauna Kea summit in a resolution on the board’s agenda today.
The resolution renews the university’s commitment to the mountain’s “cultural, natural, educational and scientific resources,” and directs the institution “to collaboratively build a global model of harmonious and inspirational stewardship that is befitting of Maunakea.”
While it doesn’t mention the TMT by name, the resolution does call for expediting the return of about 10,000 acres not used for astronomy in the Maunakea Science Reserve to the full jurisdiction of the state.
The move was among the 10 actions called for by Gov. David Ige in May 2015 to help enhanced stewardship of the mountain. At the time, construction had been halted by protesters who blocked crews from reaching the summit.
Later that year the Hawaii Supreme Court formally stopped the project and ordered the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to hold another contested case hearing. The high court ruled that the board “put the cart before the horse” when it formally approved the conservation use permit before holding the contested case hearing.
Today’s Board of Regents declaration comes less than a month before the BLNR holds its final hearing in the contested case hearing do-over. The hearing is scheduled Sept. 20 at the Grand Naniloa Hotel in Hilo.
The university has taken a lot of heat for its stewardship of Mauna Kea over the years — not just from TMT detractors but in a scathing 1998 state audit, an independent 2007 report that described failures and other issues on the mountain and, more recently, from Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim, who criticized the university’s management in June at an Office of Hawaiian Affairs meeting.
After the governor conducted his own review of the Mauna Kea situation in 2015, Ige said, “In many ways, we have failed the mountain. Whether you see it from a cultural perspective or from a natural resource perspective, we have not done right by a very special place and we must act immediately to change that.”
Ige asked the university to take 10 actions, including accepting responsibility for doing a better job in the future. Ige also asked TMT to increase its support for Native Hawaiian students interested in science and technology.
According to the resolution, the university aspires to become “a model indigenous-serving university.” It directs the institution to increase the involvement of Native Hawaiian students and other residents in the areas of astronomy, celestial navigation and exploration through an outreach program that stresses indigenous knowledge as well as student access to the Mauna Kea telescopes.
Kealoha Pisciotta, a longtime critic of astronomy on Mauna Kea and a contested case hearing participant, described the UH resolution as “disingenuous at best.”
“They want to create an illusion that everything is fine,” she said. “They’re just trying to make sure none of the TMT’s (international) partners pull out of the project.”
Pisciotta said the stewardship on the mountain hasn’t changed in at least a couple of decades. She said Native Hawaiian practitioners, such as herself, still feel uncomfortable when they visit the summit region.
University spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said that while UH has made mistakes on the summit, the management has improved dramatically in recent years.
“There has been a lot of hard work and a lot of great work accomplished up there,” Meisenzahl said.
The resolution notes that the university embraced its commitment to its stewardship responsibilities with the adoption of the Maunakea Science Reserve Master Plan in 2000; the Maunakea Comprehensive Master Plan, Cultural Resources Management and Natural Resources Management Plans in 2009; and the Public Access and Decommissioning Plans in 2010.
The document also points out “the dedicated work and commitment of the Office of Maunakea Management, the Maunakea Management Board and the Native Hawaiian Kahu Ku Mauna Council,” which advises the management board on cultural matters.
