The Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) is now a public document.

In the Outrigger telescope case, Judge Glenn Hara ruled
that the management plan the University of Hawai‘i submitted in its Conservation District Use Permit application was too site-specific. He ruled that the plan needed to be comprehensive – hence, this new Comprehensive Management Plan, which was created by Kuiwalu, a consultant hired by the University of Hawai‘i at the system level.

This plan now needs to be scrutinized and accepted by the Board of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), which will meet on February 13th.

I think that this plan does a very good job of balancing the different usage on the mountain. I like that it starts out by setting the cultural context and reverence that Hawaiian people hold for Mauna Kea.

In a couple days, an op-ed piece I wrote for the OHA newspaper Ka Wai Ola comes out in the February issue. My piece on this topic is a version of this post.

I feel very strongly that the Board of the DLNR should adopt this plan. If it doesn’t, there will be no management plan in place on Mauna Kea –  and that is completely unacceptable.