04-19-2015, 07:21 PM
Thanks for the links and quotes, Iron.
"Our current audit [2014] found that UH and DLNR have made progress on implementing many of our major recommendations from 2005, thus demonstrating their commitment to protecting Mauna Kea and its summit area. However, UH has yet to adopt administrative rules implementing its management responsibilities. We found UH issued unauthorized permits to regulate and assess fees for commercial tour activities, putting Mauna Kea’s resources and UH’s Mauna Kea revenues at risk. Without administrative rules, UH still lacks enforcement authority to effectively protect the mountain from public activities and ensure public health and safety within the summit area."
In recent years the rules and regulations for the observatories have become quite strict. Vehicle and site inspections (staff can actually be banned from the summit if they drive a vehicle that might carry an invasive species, e.g., dirt in a wheel well), enforced attendance of cultural seminars etc. We carry out continuous environmental and clean-up programmes in the summit area and receive regular reports from rangers about the conditions surrounding the observatories. Nearly all the clean-up we do involves tidying up after visitors.
Which is a nice segue into my next point. All these regulations and rules apply to the observatories, not the commercial tour companies or other visitors to the summit area. Right now there is far more traffic to the mountain from visitors compared to the observatories, but we and MKSS are the ones who clear up the mess.
"Our current audit [2014] found that UH and DLNR have made progress on implementing many of our major recommendations from 2005, thus demonstrating their commitment to protecting Mauna Kea and its summit area. However, UH has yet to adopt administrative rules implementing its management responsibilities. We found UH issued unauthorized permits to regulate and assess fees for commercial tour activities, putting Mauna Kea’s resources and UH’s Mauna Kea revenues at risk. Without administrative rules, UH still lacks enforcement authority to effectively protect the mountain from public activities and ensure public health and safety within the summit area."
In recent years the rules and regulations for the observatories have become quite strict. Vehicle and site inspections (staff can actually be banned from the summit if they drive a vehicle that might carry an invasive species, e.g., dirt in a wheel well), enforced attendance of cultural seminars etc. We carry out continuous environmental and clean-up programmes in the summit area and receive regular reports from rangers about the conditions surrounding the observatories. Nearly all the clean-up we do involves tidying up after visitors.
Which is a nice segue into my next point. All these regulations and rules apply to the observatories, not the commercial tour companies or other visitors to the summit area. Right now there is far more traffic to the mountain from visitors compared to the observatories, but we and MKSS are the ones who clear up the mess.