Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 4, 1 ʻApelila 2005 — UH Mauna Kea bill stalls in Legislature [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

UH Mauna Kea bill stalls in Legislature

Deferral of measure comes as NASA ponders final decision on Outrigger Telescope Project By Sterling Kini Wong Abill that would have expanded the University of Hawai'i's authority to manage property it owns or leases seems to have stalled for this legislative session, after the measure was tabled at a joint meeting of the House Hawaiian and Water, Land and Oeean Resources committees on March 23. Some Native Hawaiian groups were concerned that the bill might have removed public input from the management of certain ceded lands, including the summit of Mauna Kea. The measure had moved through the Senate before being sent over to the House. UH Deputy General Counsel Ruth Tsujimura, in her testimony, stated that the bill would allow the school to regulate public recreational and commercial activities on lands under its control, specifically Mauna Kea. The bill

would also have enabled the university to impose fines for violations of its rules. UH leases the 13,796-ft summit of Mauna Kea from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for astronomy research. The mountain, whieh is considered one of the most sacred places in Hawaiian tradition, is now home to 13 telescopes, two of whieh are the

largest optical telescopes īn the world. OHA submitted testimony in opposition to the bill at a March 17 hearing by the House Committee on Higher Education. In the testimony, the agency expressed concerns over the UH's management of Mauna Kea's spiritual, cultural and natural resources. The state Land Board "cannot simply divest itself of [its] fiduciary duties by handing over full responsibility to a leaseholder that has proven

itself more interested in international and commercial interests on ceded lands," OHA's testimony said. OHA is supposed to receive 20 percent of all revenues generated from ceded lands, whieh are the former crown and government lands of Hawai'i. A separate bill, Senate Bill 1474, calls for a study of

the state Department of Land and Natural Resource's approval and decision-making procedures on the Mauna Kea Science Reserve. As KWO went to print, the bill was making its way through the House. Mauna Kea observers are also waiting for NASA's decision on whether it will move forward on its controversial Outrigger Telescopes Project, whieh would

add up to six 1.8-meter telescopes to the mountain. In February, the agency released the project's final environmental impact statement, in whieh it found that the cumulative impacts on the mountain's cultural and biological resources from nearly 40 years of astronomy activity are adverse and significant. NASA spokesman Carl Pilcher said that the agency will release its decision sometime after March.

Attorney Lea l long, wno represents several groups that are appealing the state Land Board's

approval of a permit that would allow NASA to build the Outrigger Telescopes Project, said that it's very important that the EIS recognizes that the cumulative impacts of development on the mountain are significant and adverse. "That is something that everyone knew, but no one wanted to acknowledge," she said. U

NASA's twin Keek observatories on Mauna Kea house the largest telescopes on earth.

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