Mauna Kea Hearing Update

Last month brought out the best in defenders of Hawai‘i‘s natural and cultural public trust resources. On February 12, 2013, the Board of Land and Natural Resources met in Hilo to hear final arguments from both sides of a "showdown" on the University of Hawai'i's permit to construct a Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) in the Mauna Kea summit area. The morning began with a rally put together by Mauna Kea supporters, including and especially Pua Case and E. Kalani Flores of the Flores-Case ‘Ohana, who are also petitioners in the case against the TMT. Aunty Pua had been holding workshops to teach special oli and hula that her students performed at the rally. Mauna Kea supporters convened in the Hilo county building and then processed into the room where the Board (and most TMT supporters) had already assembled. The room was packed with uncomfortable people wearing "TMT Yes!" buttons sitting in the seats and a ring of Mauna Kea supporters standing around the room, spilling out to fill the adjacent hall pavilion.

Board members first heard from UH attorney, Tim Lui-Kwan, who insisted that the TMT, nearly the largest telescope in the world, would not "cause" significant impacts to the Mauna Kea conservation district and its sacred cultural resources, and petitioners Kealoha Pisciotta of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, Pua Case and E. Kalani Flores of the Flores-Case ‘Ohana, C. Kukauakahi Ching, and Kumu Hula Paul Neves had not proven that they are Native Hawaiians. Auwe! But it was the Petitioners themselves who provided the highlights of the day. Kumu Hula Paul Neves' son, Kinohi, Pua Case and E. Kalani Flores of the Flores-Case ‘Ohana, Marti Townsend of KAHEA, Deborah J. Ward, and finally, Kealoha Pisciotta of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou provided the Board with oral testimonies summing up their reservations against TMT construction. KAHEA representative testified:

"We are here today because the University has failed to fulfill its obligations to protect the conservation district of Mauna Kea for many decades. The eight criteria of the conservation district rules direct the Board to put the natural resources at the center of its decisionmaking. When we focus on the resources, and when we make decisions in their best interest, the intent of the conservation district rules will be satisfied and our natural resources will actually thrive. As it is, the University and past Boards have put the developer at the center of their decisionmaking...and it shows! The summit is thirty-eight feet shorter than it was before telescopes found it, invasive species are advancing up the mountain, and it is by focusing on developer interests that the University now attempts to justify expanding the industrial footprint of telescopes on Mauna Kea."

Having heard the mana‘o of Petitioners and reviewed the extensive evidence weighing against further construction on Mauna Kea, the Board is now equipped to take full responsibility for the consequences of a decision to affirm or deny the University's TMT construction permit. We await the Board's final decision.