The $300 million Daniel K. Ino­uye Solar Telescope, in the works on Maui for over a decade, is under construction in the Science City area of the summit of Hale­akala. When it is completed in 2019, the largest solar telescope in the world will give astronomers the best view of the sun they've ever had.

But not if Kila­kila o Hale­akala has its way. The small group of Native Hawaiians has been battling the project in the public-review proc­ess and the courts for years, although largely under the radar.

Now the case has reached the state's highest court, and the group is hoping for a ruling that will block construction.

With many similarities between the Hale­akala and Mauna Kea cases, the court is now weighing broad legal issues that not only could affect the Ino­uye telescope, but the future of the $1.4 billion TMT project.

"We're watching the Maui case very closely," said Kealoha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou and one of the individuals suing to halt the TMT project.

Both projects were shepherded by the University of Hawaii on land subleased from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources. Both projects are being funded mostly from institutions and entities based away from Hawaii.

While the Thirty Meter Telescope is being billed as the largest optical telescope in the world, the 4-meter Ino­uye project will be the world's most powerful ground-based solar telescope, enabling solar astronomers to see more clearly into the heart of sunspots, flares and other solar phenomena that influence Earth.

The massive TMT is planned to rise 18 stories and be the tallest structure on Hawaii island when built, while the Maui telescope is expected to reach 14 stories.

In both cases a small group of Native Hawaiians has contested these projects every step of the way, arguing that the mountaintop is sacred and that these enormous developments will desecrate and overwhelm a place of spectacular beauty and significant traditional cultural resource.

While the Kilakila case has advanced to the Hawaii Supreme Court, the Mauna Kea case is gearing up for a hearing before the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals. Both projects won a green light to begin construction even as appeals were filed in court.

One of the key legal issues being argued in both cases is whether the Board of Land and Natural Resources failed to meet all eight criteria required before construction is allowed in the state's protected Conservation District, which the court has already observed as tolerating the least degree of development.

David Kimo Frankel, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. staff attorney representing Kila­kila, said the group is not disputing the fact that astronomy facilities are listed as one of the legal uses of the conservation district. Rather, he said, this specific project — given its unprecedented size, industrial appearance and substantial impacts, among other things — is inconsistent with the purposes of conservation lands.

Frankel said the state Legislature's history of amendments to the Conservation District law shows increasingly restrictive requirements for development, and the BLNR should have analyzed whether this specific astronomy project is consistent with the purposes of the district.

During arguments at the Hawaii State Supreme Court on April 2 — the same day protesters were being arrested on Mauna Kea — many of the same issues that are integral to Mauna Kea were argued before the court, including whether developers can offer mitigating measures that do nothing to offset the physical impact of a project and whether the BLNR prejudged the issue.

A ruling could lead to greater restrictions over development in the Conservation District, an area that encompasses 2 million acres including the summits of Hale­­akala and Mauna Kea.

Ki‘ope Raymond, president of Kila­kila o Hale­akala and longtime University of Hawaii Maui College Hawaiian-studies professor, said it hurts when he goes to Maui's 10,000-foot mountaintop and sees the giant shell of the Ino­uye telescope. He said the structure is even more imposing than he thought it was going to be.

Kilakila, which formed after many Native Hawaiians on Maui expressed their disdain for the proposal, kept trying to find a compromise with the institutions driving the project, he said.

"But they didn't compromise on anything," he said, including refusing to budge on the size or even the color of the dome.

Attempts by the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser to reach the leadership of the Ino­uye telescope project with telephone and email requests were unsuccessful last week.

Pisciotta, a veteran foe of Hawaii island astronomy projects, said there's a special connection between Hale­akala and Mauna Kea because they are spiritually aligned. Both are above the clouds, in the heavenly realm and sacred high-altitude points that are open gateways to heaven, she said.

Pisciotta said she's feeling good, even optimistic, about what might come out of the Kila­kila case because the Hawaii Supreme Court has a history of supporting environmental and cultural rights, such as the time when the court ruled in favor of public access in the PASH (Public Access Shoreline Hawaii) case in the 1990s.

Six months ago, like on Maui, only a small, hard-core group was fighting against the TMT, maneuvering through the lengthy public review and legal channels.

"If we weren't bringing these cases, the TMT would have been built already," she said.

Since then a handful of young activists blocked construction crews, set up camp and galvanized a mountain of support through social media.

"It's changing the face of activism," Pisciotta said. "It's the modern tool of activism."

Raymond said he is impressed with the enthusiasm of the young activists, and even Kila­kila o Hale­akala has seen a surge in interest.

"Many Native Hawaiians are focusing on the summits and asking, What is my responsibility to hold the mountain sacred?" he said.

HONOLULU (AP) -- The Army has begun a study on the impact aviation noise may have at three proposed aircraft landing zones inside the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve.

U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii says it will conduct research through April 1 to assess the effects of the Army's possible high-altitude mountain training. The study is in addition to a previous environmental assessment that mistakenly communicated an intention to expand land use.

The proposed landing zones are on the western slope of Mauna Kea. Equipment at various locations within a five-mile radius will monitor noise as Army aircraft fly from Pohakuloa Training Area and briefly touch down.

Researchers on the ground will watch for impact on natural resources.

The Army says flights will not take place on holidays or weekends.

Big MAHALO to Christen Marquez for hosting a screening of Na Maka o Ka Aina‘s Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege film. Christen is herself a film maker and Miwa met her on a trip to LA while giving a presentation on what’s been going on Mauna a Wakea.  Check out Christen’s facebook page with info about her film here.  Check out her blog for more about the screening.  Mahalo to everyone who came out to learn more and to  all who signed the petition.  It’s awesome to know we have hoa aina across the big blue sea.

If you are interested in holding a screening of your own, please email me at  shelley@kahea.org.

Last week Wednesday, a group of about 25 or 30 people came together for a screening of the film Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege from Puhipau and Joan at Na Maka o ka Aina. Mahalo also to Native Books/Na Mea Hawai`i for hosting us, to Rey for mixing the `awa for us, and to Kamu and Miwa for running back to downtown at the last moment to bring the TV from our office!

Mahalo to Rey for providing the kanoa and to everybody at Na Mea for hosting us!

Despite the technical difficulties the audience graciously and patiently hung in there! Uncle Ku shared about the huaka`i (trips) that their Mauna Kea have been taking.  It is so inspiring to see how much ground they’ve covered! It is so important for us to, both figuratively and in this case physically, walk the path of our ancestors.

Uncle Tane, Uncle Baron, and Uncle Ku--awesome mana`o, mahalo for sharing!

Far too often culture and tradition are relegated to the past, with all modern day iterations appearing either as museum displays, placards or reenactments.  I think physically having our feet on the dirt does something to us–it was really beautiful to hear about their journeys and rediscovery together.  My favorite story was about their journey in 2003 on Ka La Hoihoi Ea (a Hawaiian National holiday commemorating the return of sovereignty after a short occupation by a British dude named Lord Paulet).

The simple act of honoring this day is cool in itself, but in 2003 the Mauna Kea Hui hiked to the summit with our national flags to raise them at the highest peak in the archipelago.  The pictures look super windy! What powerful images on so many levels!

If you’d be interested in hosting a screening of this film, email shelley@kahea.org  We only have a limited number of DVDs to lend out, but we do want to share the message as much as we can.

Also, here is a link to the online petition, please feel free to pass this link along far and wide.  We are in the process of getting a new website up, but this one will have to do for a couple more months! E kala mai!

Mahalo to Pono Kealoha for documenting this event!

The term “manufacturing consent” comes to mind. Hmm.

Okay, let’s say for example, that Kanoe and Tyler want to build a parking lot in your front yard. Kanoe writes the proposal. Tyler votes to approve her proposal, and sends out a press release saying “Parking lot approved!” And your neighbors think, “”My, my. There’s going to be a parking lot over there.” Now, did you get any say about this parking lot? Nope! Does it matter? Of course it does.

A little tutorial on developing conservation lands, and looking good while doing it:

Mauna Kea is public trust “ceded lands” and a conservation district. This means that the mountain is to be managed “in trust” for the people of Hawai’i, and that its natural and cultural resources are to be protected and sustained. Under state law, the responsibility for managing these lands falls to the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). DLNR does not financially benefit directly from development of Mauna Kea, and it is the agency with the mandate under state law to protect and conserve these lands.

Yet.

Today, the University Board of Regents appoints 100% of members to the Office of Mauna Kea Management. The Regents appoint 100% of the members of Kahu Ku Mauna. The University paid the consultant who wrote the management plan for Mauna Kea. At the end of the day, we have to ask: Who’s interests are being represented? Who is being left out?

So many have worked so hard and sacrificed so much, to get us to where we are today. Twenty years ago, the University and the UH Institute for Astronomy could not and would not even acknowledge the existence of clear problems. Two lawsuits and two state audits later, we can finally openly acknowledge past wrongs, and talk about impacts of astronomy development on cultural and natural resources. Not just on Mauna Kea, but Hawai’i's other sacred summits as well.

But without true change in management (!), it’s just that: talk.

If you support true community management of Hawai’i's sacred summits, you can join with the thousands of others around Hawai’i who are saying “Enough already” and demand a truly pono future for some of Hawai’i's most sacred places. Sign the petition today!

From Marti:

This legislative session didn’t turn out to be as bad as it could have been for our natural and cultural resources.  By mid-session this year, there were proposals to drastically weaken our EIS law, transfer 54% of the Division of Aquatic Resources to HIMB for groundskeepers (really, Dr. Leong? You know, City Mill has a sale on lawnmowers), and grant corporations extended leases to exploit our ocean. Thanks to the advocacy of so many, none of these proposals passed.

Not only that, legislators did manage to pass some good bills (in addition to HB 444). Sitting on the Governor’s desk for approval right now are laws that make it a felony to intentionally kill Hawaiian monk seals, require solar water heaters on new homes, and prevent beachfront landowners from using naupaka to block public access to and along the shoreline. It’s about time! Thanks also to your efforts, an audit will happening for Mauna Kea–albeit a self-audit. And while we still believe a self-audit is really no kind of audit at all, we do see it as a step in the right direction by the legislature. A very small, very weak and very tentative step, but a step nonetheless.

Mahalo to all those whose late nights, phone calls, petition gathering, and committed advocacy helped keep this 2010 legislative session from going off the rails.

Unfortunately, legislators still could not find the courage to figure out what is going on with the telescopes on Mauna Kea. Instead of requiring an actual financial audit by the State Auditor of the private use of public (ceded) lands on the summit, legislators asked the University of Hawaii for a report… another one?!  Where’s the oversight in self-reporting?  What is the University going to say in this report that they haven’t already said in response to the million and half times we asked where’s the rent (…which was, in case you hadn’t heard, “i dunno.”)? What does it take to get some independent oversight around here?

Last year, $12 million dollars bypassed the state’s general fund in a deal between Caltech and Yale University for a few nights of viewing time on Mauna Kea. The people of Hawaii didn’t collect anything from that — no taxes, no fees, and no rent.  And who knows how many other deals like this have gone down over the use of our public lands on Mauna Kea and throughout Hawaii.  You can talk about the “multiplier effect” of an astronomer buying tomatoes in Hilo all you want, the bottom line is state law requires market-based rent be collected for the use of our public lands. The foreign countries and corporations that own the telescopes on Mauna Kea are paying a $1 (or less!) a year — how far-off market-based do you have to be before it is illegal?

Our point: Mauna Kea is a conservation district, not an industrial zone; a sacred place, not a wasteland. The state should not be encouraging the creation of an industrial zone in this sacred conservation district by subsidizing rent costs for foreign countries and corporations.