After listening to two days of testimony, the Board of Land and Natural Resources accepted the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) with some conditions. The most significant condition is that the University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents accept responsibility for enforcing the CMP.

There is a requirement to include information from two resource plans that are nearing completion. There is an addition of a decommissioning plan, including upfront funding for returning the site to its original condition. And finally, a plan to delineate access. People did not want access to be taken away. I thought these were very good additions.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair, Laura Thielen, did a very good job of giving everyone a chance to share their thoughts. I was very impressed that they spent two days in Hilo accepting testimony.

University of Hawai‘i President David McClain stayed for the better part of two days. In his introduction, he mentioned the recent Board of Regents declaration of a special relationship with native Hawaiians. This has far-reaching implications.

He went on to make three main points:

1. That, in the interest of home rule, the University system is committed to the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo being the entity that would manage the CMP.
2. He committed to funding that would ensure that the CMP could be implemented.
3. He apologized for the pain and anguish that the native Hawaiian community feels due to the university’s mismanagement prior to 2000.

At the end of the session, Dr. McClain talked about compensation. There is not much that can be done to change the original lease, which gives the IfA a percentage of viewing time as compensation.

He emphasized that the University of Hawai‘i has been providing $2.5 million annually in scholarships to native Hawaiian students. This means that UH is paying the equivalent of 20 percent of what would be $10,000,000 if telescope time were monetized.

From here forward, he said, lease rents for new projects will be determined differently instead of all the telescope time going to UH Manoa. It could include telescope time for the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, and an amount could go toward community benefits. This is in the early conceptual stages.

The people opposed to the CMP were very organized and people kept on coming through the door to testify. They did a very good job. Out of the 80 or so testifiers overall, I would say that it was evenly split; maybe slightly more in favor than not.

The people who testified in favor were also highly motivated. I have not seen that level of participation before at the eight public hearings that I attended. It clearly made a difference in the decision to accept the CMP.

People were very respectful and tolerant of each other, and this is very encouraging. We all live here on an island in the middle of the ocean and we need to be able to have these discussions, go through the process, come to a conclusion, live with the decision and remain friends. More than anything, I was pleased that we all went through this process together. The result is a better CMP.

Yesterday, in the late afternoon, my daughter and I went by the sign waving event that supporters of the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) held near the Kamehameha statue at the Hilo Bayfront.

It was an impressive turnout – around 130 people when we got there, I think, many wearing their black “E Malama Mauna Kea” t-shirts. When I looked around I saw business people, labor union folk, scientists that work on Mauna Kea and Hawaiians. What they all have in common is an interest in seeing Mauna Kea taken care of and protected for the future.

Big Island Video News took this video of the sign waving.

It’s a big deal, this CMP that is being decided on right now, and will have a huge impact. I like that when she’s older I’ll be able to remind my 5-year-old that she was there when people got involved and worked together to take care of something as important as Mauna Kea.

While we were there I also told her about how that big grassy area we were standing on used to have lots of houses until they were destroyed by a tsunami. I showed her the big mango tree near the Wailoa Center that marks approximately where her great-great-great-great-grandfather Nalimu’s family lived during the second half of the 1800s and well into the 1900s, too. Maybe someday she will stand there with her own child and point out that same history to the next generation.

And now she’ll be able to tell that future child that in 2009 the same ‘aina was also the site of an important demonstration that marked a turning point for how we take care of our Mauna Kea.

We seem to be returning to an era of renewed respect and consideration of Mauna Kea. The ones who came before us would approve.

Please come to the sign waving in support of the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) on Monday, April 6th between 4 and 6 p.m. We will be in front of the King Kamehameha statue near the Hilo Bayfront. It will be fun!

The first 150 folks will get a container of Hamakua Springs grape tomatoes (one per family).

Coming up with a Comprehensive Management Plan for Mauna Kea has been a long and difficult process. Nevertheless, I think most of us can agree that we have a good start.

The CMP is a living document and it allows people to step up and exercise “our kuleana,” which is to malama Mauna Kea. It is a good plan because it takes special pains to be respectful of the culture, and of the people who practice the culture. Most of all, it is a good plan because we all contributed to it.

• The Office of Hawaiian Affairs issued a Resolution approving the Comprehensive Management Plan.

• The staff of the Board of Land and Natural Resources recommends approval if the Board of Regents accepts responsibility for implementation of the Comprehensive Management  Plan.

• The Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs recommends approval of the Comprehensive Management Plan.

We hope you will join us at the Bayfront tomorrow afternoon, where we will wave signs in support of the CMP.

Mike, one of this blog’s readers, sent this, which I like a lot:

I guess another way of expressing your “CMP took all of us” sign might be this:

I think it’s really important that I say something now.

I’ve been talking a lot about the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan, and I want to be very, very clear about one thing:

This is not about “sides.” It’s not about the astronomers or the business people or the Hawaiians or the labor people. It’s not about whose agenda “wins” and whose agenda “loses.”

This is about taking care of Mauna Kea. It’s all about Malama Mauna Kea in a very “big picture” way. The CMP is a process where we are taking everybody’s input and coming up with a plan that takes care of the mountain and looks to the future.

I feel very strongly about this. This is not about any one group of people and what they want. It’s a matter of everybody having their say. I’ve been meeting all the different people who have an interest in Mauna Kea, and they’re all nice people. None of them are the enemy. And I’m not the enemy, either.

We need to aloha everybody – that’s the point. No matter what side of the fence you’re on, we need to aloha you. Because we all have to live here with each other.

When we wave signs on Monday, people will be carrying signs that say “CMP Yes.” But I’m making a sign that will say, “CMP took all of us.” That’s what I’ll say when they interview me. I really feel strongly about this. It’s all of us.

If you’re going to teach the kids anything, you’ve got to teach them that we’re not fighting with each other. We’re going through a process, and it’s a good process. The process is the lesson.