Category Archives: Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea

Summary Sheet: Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan CMP

The Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP)

What are the key points of the CMP?

  • The CMP provides a cultural foundation that is based upon recognizing the cultural significance of Mauna Kea.
  • The CMP was developed with extensive community input involving over 150 individuals and groups, 6 public meetings on the Big Island, a website, and a statewide survey.
  • The intent of the CMP is to preserve and protect the valued cultural and natural resources of Mauna Kea by managing uses and activities, including astronomy, recreational, and commercial uses.
  • The CMP does not advocate or allow new telescope development.  It does recommend management actions which would be applicable not only to existing astronomy facilities but also any future astronomy facilities, including improvements to the unpaved summit road and Hale Pōhaku.
  • Finally, the State Auditor recommended in 2005 that the University of Hawai‘i obtain rule-making authority and develop, implement, and monitor a comprehensive management plan for Mauna Kea.  The CMP recommends promulgation of administrative rules necessary to implement and enforce the CMP.

Why should we support the CMP?

  • There are valuable cultural and natural resources on Mauna Kea that need to be protected and preserved for not only this generation but generations to come.  For example, wēkiu bug habitat should be preserved and protected, and access should be provided to native Hawaiians for traditional and customary practices such as gathering mamake or worship of Mauna Kea. The CMP’s goal is to protect those valuable resources.
  • While the CMP isn’t perfect, it is the first important step toward taking responsibility for good stewardship of Mauna Kea in a culturally appropriate way.

How can I support the CMP?

  • Please sign the petition that will be presented to Board of Land and Natural Resources for approval.
  • Submit supportive testimony to the legislature on HB 1174 and SB 502.
  • Attend the public meeting before the Mauna Kea Management Board on March 20 and the Land Board meeting on April 9, 2009.

HB 1174 and SB 502

  • These two bills will grant authority to the University of Hawai‘i to adopt administrative rules to manage and regulate activities on the lands it leases on Mauna Kea.  They also allow the University to establish a special fund to deposit fees collected from activities on Mauna Kea.
  • The bills do not transfer ceded lands to the University.
Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea, Past & Future

RA couple of years ago, June and I invited our friends Ralph and Lynn Cramer to go with us to the summit of Mauna Kea.

Being from Pennsylvania, they were well-prepared for northeast-like cold weather and snow. Being from Hawai‘i, we wore light windbreakers and shorts.

As we drove up the mountain, we passed people parked along the side, shoveling snow into their pickup trucks. A bare-backed guy on a snowboard went cruising past. And others were coming down.

We made the turn heading up to the last climb. I told Ralph and Lynn that my Pop had had the contract to make the road to the summit with his bulldozer. I’d gone off to school on O‘ahu, but my brothers Robert, Kenneth and Guy and my brother-in-law Dennis Vierra would drive the fuel truck and grease up the tractor for him. That was him on his D-9 in the PBS special “First Light.” You can see his name, Richard Ha, on the bulldozer. I’m junior.

At the summit, our friends were awestruck. We walked over to the east to look toward Hilo, and then across to the west to look toward Kona. Lynn said that her son was probably on Mt. Blanc right then. She tried to call him, but could not get through.

We were parked next to the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope where my son Brian worked for more than a year. June called him at Ft. Rucker, Alabama, where he was a Apache helicopter pilot. He told her, “Watch out for the icicles hanging from the observatory.” I contemplated what had just happened for a bit. What a small world, I thought.

I walked over to a pickup truck full of snow and chop suey kids and asked, “What you guys going do with the snow?” The guy sounded local, though not necessarily Hawaiian. He told me they always go up to get snow. They were going to get all the kids together to make a snowman at his grandma’s grave at Kukuihaele.  It had become a family tradition.

When I think about that now, I think: We definitely must try to make sure that he and his future ‘ohana can always keep on doing that.

I told Ralph and Lynn how when we were youngsters we would go to Hapuna Beach in the morning, and then on the way back to Hilo, still dressed in swim shorts and slippers, we would drive up to the summit, run around a little, jump back in the car and head down.

That was more than 40 years ago. We must make sure we do what’s necessary so we can pass on those types of experiences to future generations. With respect, courtesy and common sense, we can make it work for all of us.

Mauna Kea

Sacred Science On The Sacred Mountain

RTo me, it’s just as easy to envision ahu and lele on Mauna Kea as it is to envision telescopes.

This incredible photo is too big to post here, but please go look at it. Scroll to the right to view the whole panorama.

There is so much divisiveness in response to a Honolulu Advertiser editorial yesterday about the Comprehensive Management Plan for Mauna Kea (see the comments). This photo reminds us that everybody could fit in. If there were ahu and lele in that photo area, all could coexist under the heavens.

Community, Mauna Kea

Out In The Open: About the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan

On Friday, the Board of the Department of Land and Natural Resources in Honolulu met for an informational briefing on the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP).

It was an overflow crowd. People were standing in the hallway.

Because there were people from the outer islands that came to testify, the agenda was changed to move the CMP hearing up front. Five people from the Kanaka Council flew in from the Big Island.

The Kanaka Council testified against the CMP, and then also spoke about larger issues. I was very impressed with its presentation, which was clear, respectful and thoughtful.  The Council was represented by Kale Gumapac (Alaka‘i), Palikapu Dedman, Jimmy Medeiros, Rocky Jensen and Lenwood Vaspra.

It is very significant that they were able to state their position on the big picture. People hearing them for the first time might write them off as another group of “anti-everything” people. But I have worked with the Kanaka Council on various projects and I think I heard a different message than most. I heard that they are willing to discuss things because they can see the larger picture — and this is very hopeful.

From here, if there is honest give and take, there can be progress. I believe that we can find some workable middle ground.

KAHEA also gave testimony. That is a slick, media-savvy organization that has done some admirable work over the years. KAHEA has people on its staff who had prepared supporting documents, which they handed to the board as their testimony was presented.

My kuleana is sustainability, and I testified in favor of the CMP. I talked about how I volunteered for the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) committee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board back when it was formed. If there was going to be a new large telescope on the mountain, I wanted to help make sure that it was done right. I talked about astronomy on Mauna Kea and our Adopt-a-Class project.

I also mentioned that I was there to represent my workers, who work hard trying to make a better future for their children. I mentioned that the astronomy industry could provide good jobs for Hawai‘i’s people. Hardly anyone wants their children to be tomato or banana farm workers.

I said that as a farmer, I worry about our ability to feed Hawai‘i’s people when fertilizer prices again soar out of sight. I said that educating our keiki will help us solve this problem. And the astronomy industry is willing to give us money to help us do this. But at the same time, that we need to make sure that we malama Mauna Kea.

The world has changed. The oil supply will, again, be unable able to keep up with demand, and we will have trouble feeding ourselves. I told the DLNR board that we are vulnerable out here in the middle of the ocean, and that we cannot give up any advantage we may have. Future generations will judge us on how wise we are today.

Chairwoman Thielen asked Dawn Chang of Ku‘iwalu, the consultant who created the CMP for the University of Hawai‘i, if the issues raised by the Kanaka Council are addressed in the CMP, and Dawn replied that some are and others are not. Dawn added that she will follow up on their concerns.

Kale told me that they are going to form an ad hoc committee, as this is going to take up a lot of their time. As long as there is dialog, we will be making progress.

Today, Kale told me they are very upset about the “power grab” bills that are going through the legislature. These were the bills that allow for enforcing the rules in the CMP. He said they have some hard questions for Dawn Chang when they speak again this week.

Hanalei Fergerstrom told me that someone’s lele (altar) on Mauna Kea was just destroyed. I called Stephanie Nagata, interim director of the Office of Mauna Kea Management, who told me that they had noticed the lele and were discussing how to protect it.

I had thought that the bill Kale told me about would enable the Rangers to protect the public safety, as well as such things as this lele. I have to admit that I have not read all the bills. Maybe they can be tweaked so this can work for all concerned.

I told Kale that I am concerned about the timeline for the Thirty-Meter Telescope.

The TMT was the 800-pound gorilla in the room. That project is on a strict timeline, because time is money. They need to make a decision by June 2009. This means that the CMP would have to be completed by April, so that the information can be incorporated into the TMT’s Environmental Impact statement.

The Comprehensive Management Plan can proceed on schedule as long as there isn’t anything in it that would trigger an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). So the CMP cannot be a “building” or “take down” plan, because both of those things trigger an EIS. If an EIS is triggered, the TMT will go away because of time constraints.

So there it is. All out in the open.  Let’s see if we can work together on this. The world has changed and we do not have time to fool around.

Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan Now a Public Document

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.

History, Mauna Kea, Science, Television

Passing the Torch

I just watched the KGMB9-TV special Hokulea – Passing The Torch.

It was about the Micronesian master navigator Mau Piailug “passing the torch” to five new navigators.

From Wikipedia:

Born on the island of Satawal in the Caroline Islands, Mau received his knowledge of navigation from an early age, taught first by his grandfather. When he was around 18, through training of a master navigator, he went through sacred ceremony called Pwo.

Through this he became “Paliuw” by a master navigator, through the Weriyeng School of Navigation. Weriyeng School of Navigation, which began on Pollap Island a long, long time ago, is only one of two schools of navigation left in Micronesia.

He is best known for his work with the Hawaii-based Polynesian Voyaging Society, navigating the double-hulled canoe Hokule‘a from Hawaii to Tahiti on its maiden voyage in 1976, and training and mentoring Native Hawaiian navigator Nainoa Thompson, who would later become a master navigator in his own right.

On March 18, 2007 Piailug presided over the first Pwo ceremony for navigators on Satawal in 56 years. At the event five native Hawaiians and eleven others were inducted into Pwo as master navigators. The Polynesian Voyaging Society presented Piailug a canoe, the Alingano Maisu, as a gift for his key role in reviving traditional wayfinding navigation in Hawaii.

Alingano Maisu was built in Kawaihae, Hawaii under the non- profit organization, Nā Kalai Waʻa Moku O Hawaiʻi. The commitment to build this “gift” for Mau was made by Clay Bertelmann, Captain of Makali‘i and Hokule‘a. Maisu was given to Mau on behalf of all the voyaging families and organizations that are now actively continuing to sail and practice the traditions taught by Mau Piailug.

Hundreds of years before the Spaniards and English entered the Pacific, Polynesian navigators were moving back and forth around the ocean, and to and from Hawai‘i, without instruments. Five hundred years ago, Polynesians were the greatest navigators in the world.

In the 1897 introduction that Queen Lili‘uokalani wrote for the Hawaiian creation chant the Kumulipo (she wrote it while she was under house arrest), she noted that Hawaiians were astronomers.

We need to again elevate Hawaiian wayfinding navigator/astronomers to the highest level of respect, similar to how we feel today about astronauts.

In doing that, we will lift our keiki’s aspirations. They will take pride in who they are and they will see that anything is possible.

One way to do this is to continue practicing the sacred science of astronomy on our sacred mountain, Mauna Kea.

If the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) for Mauna Kea does not pass, it will likely mean the end of astronomy on Mauna Kea in the near future. Without the CMP, the Thirty-Meter Telescope will be built in Chile, and when the current lease for the rest of the telescopes is up, they will shut down and so will the astronomy program at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

We need to support the Comprehensive Management Plan and the Thirty-Meter Telescope for what they can do for our people. For our keiki.

We need to pass the torch.

Education, Mauna Kea, Peak Oil

Connecting the Dots

By now, most of us know that the supply of oil is not endless.

• Oil provided the energy to build this incredibly complex society.
• And oil supplied the energy to grow our food.

Now it’s like an inverted pyramid – only a few farmers are needed to feed all the people.

As oil supplies decline though, we will have to use more human brainpower to maintain our lifestyle. We need the pyramid to flip right side up again, and have as its base more farmers and other smart people who can build and fix things.

Local craftsman, and those who can avoid the oil input costs, will be in demand. There was an article in the Honolulu Advertiser last week about Joe Pacific Shoe Company. Its business is growing by leaps and bounds, because in a world of declining oil supplies, those who can build and fix things are increasingly in demand.

Our community colleges are a locus of education that will be more and more appreciated. Whatever we can do now for keiki education will help future generations survive out here in the middle of the ocean.

The TMT subcommittee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board, on which I serve, is now working on developing a non-profit entity to capture funds, from the astronomy community and others, that will be used to educate Big Island students. It will be broad-based rather than just science-based. We want it to be relevant to the changing world.

And we are striving to make sure that the committee members who decide where the funds go are people who are looking out for the greater good – as well as being people with a special awareness of the host Hawaiian culture and that we all live out here together in the middle of the ocean.

It is very encouraging that a school like Keaukaha Elementary here in Hilo, a school that was underperforming for as long as most people can remember, could turn itself around and become a role model of exceptional performance. This proves that we can do this for all K through 6th grades. And also that we need to connect the dots for the kids in 7th through 12th grades, to help them get into the community colleges and the university. If kids believe they can, then they will.

The Thirty-Meter Telescope is a powerful force that can help us to connect the dots for these students. For eight or nine years, as the telescope is being built, there will be 300-plus construction and other jobs. After that there will be approximately 140 steady jobs, mostly support-type work that will be performed by local folks. These jobs will be steady – not affected by recessions, etc.

And the Thirty Meter folks are also committed to helping develop the workforce they need when “first light” takes place. Although there will be astronomy-type jobs for those who are so inclined, most of the jobs are other types of work.

I’ve been talking about these being changing times for quite awhile now, and I think most people see it by now. I think times will get harder than they are now, but it’s clear to me what we have to do to “connect the dots.” Much of it is about education, so that we are preparing our children and their children for a different type of future.

The TMT is one avenue that can substantially move us forward toward these goals. If we do it correctly, the whole island could become an educational role model, not just Keaukaha Elementary School.

Community, Mauna Kea

Agreeing to Disagree & Sharing a Ride

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I called Kale Gumapac, Alaka‘i of the Kanaka Council, on his cell phone the other day.

Some who don’t know the people on the Kanaka Council are afraid of them. Some think Kanaka Council members are radical and unpredictable.

I think they are uncompromising, principled people. I’m very comfortable around them.

When I called, the conversation went like this: “Eh Kale, Dawn Chang just called me to ask if you guys going make the meeting with her at the County Building in Kona?” I told him that Dawn had asked me to come to the meeting, which was about the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan draft, in order to give her moral support. But I had forgotten about the meeting.

Kale replied that he had four guys in the car and was on his way to Kona. Then he said, “I should have thought to call you so we could all ride down to Kona together.”

The previous meeting between the Kanaka Council and Dawn Chang, at the Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center, had been heated and very contentious. It was tough. Dawn told me that it was the toughest meeting she had had to date. So she was a little concerned about this one.

Later, though, she told me that this meeting with the Kanaka Council turned out to be the most constructive meeting she had ever had. She was astounded.

I wasn’t surprised.

The Kanaka Council and I have been on opposite side of issues before. I didn’t know what they were going to say to Dawn, nor did they know what I was going to talk about. But it didn’t matter.

Kale’s offering me a ride to Kona with them meant I had a ride back to Hilo, too, no matter what happened at the meeting. In other words, we had agreed to disagree and still be friends afterwards.

On the way back to Hilo, the conversation could have gone something like this: “Eh, try pass the boiled peanuts.” And we would have been friends talking stories the rest of the way.

This is how it should be. We all need to respect each other. Sooner or later, oil prices will rise again and we will have to depend on each other. We need to have a tight-knit community. We need more friends, rather than less. We also need to be close to our families.

Mauna Kea

Taking Responsibility: Creating a Mauna Kea CMP

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a Letter to the Editor I recently read in the Hawai‘i Tribune Herald. It said that the contentious and boisterous protest at the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) hearing held in Keaukaha could be seen to imply that all Hawaiians think alike.

The letter’s author asserted, though, that Hawaiians are as diverse in their opinions as any other segment of the population. And he wanted to make the point that he, specifically, did not agree with all the protestors.

This person took responsibility for his own opinion.

It made me wonder what my responsibility is now, since I volunteered three years ago for the newly formed Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) committee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board (HIEDB). I volunteered because I felt strongly that if this large telescope is to be built on Mauna Kea, it must be done right.

Subsequently, I have learned a lot about previous history and present circumstances regarding the mountain. Having gained such an education on the subject, I ask myself:

What is my responsibility to share what I know?

I have learned that there are still lingering and strong feelings of anger and resentment toward the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. People were very, very angry that prior to 2000, Mauna Kea was being controlled from O‘ahu rather than by people here on the Big Island.

I know I was very angry myself in the past. My own lingering anger was a large part of my reason to volunteer for the HIEDB’s TMT committee.

There were many selfless community volunteers back then, who took a lot of criticism as they tried to figure out how to wrest control from O‘ahu. Physical traffic and rules of behavior were subsequently transferred to the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo – but without adequate funding or authority to enforce the rules.

Because of the complexity of these problems, the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo is often saddled with those ill feelings from previous years, perhaps unfairly.

They do not work alone. The Chancellor of UH Hilo gets advice from the Mauna Kea Management Board, which is made up of very dedicated members of the public who make policy suggestions for the mountain’s management (with no pay). Kahu Ku Mauna is another board of cultural advisors—they also serve with no pay.

Recently, in a very clear, easy-to-understand ruling, Judge Glenn Hara reversed the Department of Land and Natural Resource’s (DLNR) issuance of a Conservation District Use Permit allowing the building of six “outrigger” telescopes on Mauna Kea.

Basically, the judge stated that the management plan submitted to support the application was too site-specific. It needs to be more comprehensive. So the DLNR needs to approve a Comprehensive Management Plan that takes into account the judge’s concerns. It does not say that the DLNR needs to create the plan itself.

This is why the Comprehensive Management Plan hearings are taking place now.

I attended most of the hearings and heard most of the testimony. In my opinion, the reason so much of the testimony was so emotional was because people did not believe they were being heard.

I know the people in charge of the plan, and I am convinced they are listening very carefully and will include everyone’s concerns. It is clear, though, that they have to weigh the needs of protecting the natural resource as well as the cultural resources.

There are some process questions that some feel are very important.  For example, some feel that the DLNR, not UHH, should actually be creating the CMP. They say that UHH developing the plan it is akin to the fox guarding the henhouse.

The people creating the plan are very credible experts in their field. But no matter who does the plan, the DLNR board will still have to approve it. I don’t think these people are just rubber stampers.

Some say an Environmental Impact Statement should be done alongside the CMP. I think that reasonable people could agree that the CMP is merely a plan, not a specific project. It’s not about building, or any physical project, it’s just a plan—no stones will be moved and no insects will be disturbed. To add an extra measure of care, an Environmental Assessment is being done.

Whenever a new project is proposed, it will trigger its own Environmental Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement.

But if people feel strongly about these types of process questions they can seek legal recourse. I don’t think a reasonable person would consider these issues so weighty that they should stop the Comprehensive Management Plan from being put in place.

This is all about taking care of Mauna Kea.

So knowing what I know, do I take a stand? Am I not responsible for what I know?

Judge Hara’s intent is for the DLNR to have a management plan in place to take care of Mauna Kea in a holistic way. That is exactly what we all want!

Are there questions so serious that it would be better for us to wait for an answer rather than take care of Mauna Kea now with a Comprehensive Management Plan in place? I don’t think so.

As I think about that Letter to the Editor, where the person took responsibility for his own opinion, I too feel a need to take responsibility for my own.

I say: Let’s get a Comprehensive Management Plan in place now so we can start to malama Mauna Kea.

Mauna Kea

Meetings re: Draft of Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan

The Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan – review the CMP summary here – is, in my opinion, a strong attempt to malama (take care of) Mauna Kea.

The Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) process was begun by the Office of Mauna Kea Management long before Judge Hara required it be put together. I know, personally, that the individuals who developed it had the best interests of Mauna Kea in mind. This plan was not driven just to accommodate the Thirty-Meter Telescope.

While it’s true that individuals have different ideas as to how Mauna Kea should be taken care of, what we share is that we all want it done properly.

Project Overview

State law defines a “management plan” as a comprehensive plan for carrying out multiple land uses. The Comprehensive Management Plan for Mauna Kea, therefore, is a management plan that will specifically address multiple land uses on those lands managed by the University of Hawai’i (UH) on Mauna Kea.
The CMP will provide a management framework for the Office of Mauna Kea Management (OMKM) to address existing and future activities on these conservation lands, with the goal of protecting Mauna Kea’s significant cultural and natural resources. The CMP will build upon the previous management and master plans to update the management strategies for the range of activities on and uses of Mauna Kea. The CMP will include detailed information about natural and cultural resources, including management recommendations to ensure their protection, by incorporating plans currently being prepared by OMKM consultants. It will also consider how to process and manage existing and potential future uses of and activities on Mauna Kea, such as astronomy, recreational and commercial activities, scientific research, and cultural and religious activities.

The draft Comprehensive Management Plan incorporates suggestions from the general public that were gathered at a series of talk story sessions, community meetings and forums.

Now there will be a series of three meetings, as well as individual talk story sessions, for the general public to provide more input to the final document. At this second round of public meetings, Ku’iwalu intends to present a draft of management recommendations for the CMP for community review.

Upcoming Meetings
Kona Community Meeting (Round 2)
Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 5-8 p.m.
Kealakehe Elementary School
74-5118 Kealakaa Street Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i 96740
Waimea Community Meeting (Round 2)
Monday, Nov. 17, 2008 5 – 8 p.m.

Waimea Civic Center
67-5189 Kamamalu Street Kamuela, Hawai‘i 96743
Hilo Community Meeting (Round 2)
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Keaukaha Elementary School
240 Desha Avenue Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720

These presentations give the public another opportunity to provide comments on the proposed Comprehensive Management Plan for Mauna Kea.