11-26-2022, 08:32 PM
. My-oh-my, how time and helicopters fly! It's hard to believe it's been 22 years since the U.S. Congress ordered the National Park Service to deal with the horrendous air tour nuisance problem. But it's no surprise that all Monday's Section 106 Consulting Party Zoom Meeting for the Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Air Tour Management Plan had to offer was an inconsequential list of historical sites that studies have revealed won't be physically altered by overflights.
Since, oddly, no recording of this internet meeting was made, I can only rely on my scribbled notes and sketchy memory to report what went on. Basically, I remember it as a phantasmagoria involving a prim and mostly-uniformed cadre of professionals including:
Environmental Specialist,
Archeologist,
FAA Programmer,
Air Tour Operator,
Park Superintendent,
Interpreter,
Consultant,
all electronically emceed by a
Federal Preservation Officer,
avoiding concerns posed by invited attendees representing
Hawaiian Civic Clubs,
Office of Hawaiian Affairs,
Adjacent Property Managers,
Interested Individuals.
Even before the esteemed presenters could read off the same PowerPoint slides sent out with the e-mail announcement, the local participants tried to express their frustrations. Over and over they attempted to get the conversation onto something meaningful, only to be preempted by denials of responsibility. And all the while a shrill Safari Helicopters pilot kept frantically breaking in to insist that the ATMP only applies inside the park boundaries, as if this were a religious epiphany. (To find out why he's delusional, read the Book of C.F.R. 40, Verse 1508.8.)
It was like there were two different meetings going on. The one about the problems the Hawaiians wanted to be addressed and the only one government automatons would allow. Sheesh, I'm close to getting some sympathy for the Mauna Kea blockaders.
Sure, the studies found 34 historic sites within the park and established that dead people aren't bothered by bladeslaps, but what was done to address the noise pollution the entire island suffers from that is caused by the air tours HVNP profits off of? Absolutely nothing, which is a clear violation of the Environmental Protection Agency stipulations. Just as a factory is responsible for the harm toxic waste dispersed into a river does downstream, the NPS is responsible for the island-wide noise pollution they have commercialized. But try to get somebody wearing a Smokey-the-Bear hat to discuss that problem and they sheepishly refuse to even talk about it.
So, if not to respond to the concerns of the local population, just why was this meeting held in the first place? Because the superintendent of HVNP is under a U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals order to produce a functioning aviation management plan by:
October 4, 2017,
August 31, 2020,
August 31, 2022,
August 31, 2023,
December 31, 2023.
But actually doing something to meet the court's dancing deadline is not required. Park administrators must only document that they are pretending to do something. Which is what happened at Monday's blacked-out meeting.
Cowabunga, Dudes!
Since, oddly, no recording of this internet meeting was made, I can only rely on my scribbled notes and sketchy memory to report what went on. Basically, I remember it as a phantasmagoria involving a prim and mostly-uniformed cadre of professionals including:
Environmental Specialist,
Archeologist,
FAA Programmer,
Air Tour Operator,
Park Superintendent,
Interpreter,
Consultant,
all electronically emceed by a
Federal Preservation Officer,
avoiding concerns posed by invited attendees representing
Hawaiian Civic Clubs,
Office of Hawaiian Affairs,
Adjacent Property Managers,
Interested Individuals.
Even before the esteemed presenters could read off the same PowerPoint slides sent out with the e-mail announcement, the local participants tried to express their frustrations. Over and over they attempted to get the conversation onto something meaningful, only to be preempted by denials of responsibility. And all the while a shrill Safari Helicopters pilot kept frantically breaking in to insist that the ATMP only applies inside the park boundaries, as if this were a religious epiphany. (To find out why he's delusional, read the Book of C.F.R. 40, Verse 1508.8.)
It was like there were two different meetings going on. The one about the problems the Hawaiians wanted to be addressed and the only one government automatons would allow. Sheesh, I'm close to getting some sympathy for the Mauna Kea blockaders.
Sure, the studies found 34 historic sites within the park and established that dead people aren't bothered by bladeslaps, but what was done to address the noise pollution the entire island suffers from that is caused by the air tours HVNP profits off of? Absolutely nothing, which is a clear violation of the Environmental Protection Agency stipulations. Just as a factory is responsible for the harm toxic waste dispersed into a river does downstream, the NPS is responsible for the island-wide noise pollution they have commercialized. But try to get somebody wearing a Smokey-the-Bear hat to discuss that problem and they sheepishly refuse to even talk about it.
So, if not to respond to the concerns of the local population, just why was this meeting held in the first place? Because the superintendent of HVNP is under a U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals order to produce a functioning aviation management plan by:
October 4, 2017,
August 31, 2020,
August 31, 2022,
August 31, 2023,
December 31, 2023.
But actually doing something to meet the court's dancing deadline is not required. Park administrators must only document that they are pretending to do something. Which is what happened at Monday's blacked-out meeting.
Cowabunga, Dudes!
