05-06-2022, 06:17 AM
Just a couple of responses to the bill being passed, the first by UH president Lassner:
https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2022/05/05/p...l-hb-2024/
"What saddens me most is not the creation of a new Authority but that a completely false narrative that UH is mismanaging Maunakea drove this legislation. I have personally acknowledged and apologized publicly on multiple occasions for UH mismanagement of Maunakea in the previous century. Since then, UH has been on a trajectory of continuous improvement for over 20 years including: the 2000 Master Plan; the creation of the Maunakea Ranger program to protect public safety; establishment of the Office of Maunakea Management under UH Hilo; creation of the community-based Maunakea Management Board and Kahu Kū Mauna Native Hawaiian Advisory Council; adoption of Administrative Rules in the face of extraordinary challenges; the support and resourcing of the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center; regular monitoring of over 260 historic, archaeological and cultural sites identified by extensive UH surveys; and removal of invasive species. Compelling indicators of our success include removal of the endemic wēkiu bug from candidacy as an endangered species thanks to UH research and discovery of a previously unknown population of petrels on Maunakea through UH-sponsored field studies."
And the DLNR:
https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/57127686...hb2024-cd1
(Below are quotes from the above site)
https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2022/05/05/p...l-hb-2024/
"What saddens me most is not the creation of a new Authority but that a completely false narrative that UH is mismanaging Maunakea drove this legislation. I have personally acknowledged and apologized publicly on multiple occasions for UH mismanagement of Maunakea in the previous century. Since then, UH has been on a trajectory of continuous improvement for over 20 years including: the 2000 Master Plan; the creation of the Maunakea Ranger program to protect public safety; establishment of the Office of Maunakea Management under UH Hilo; creation of the community-based Maunakea Management Board and Kahu Kū Mauna Native Hawaiian Advisory Council; adoption of Administrative Rules in the face of extraordinary challenges; the support and resourcing of the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center; regular monitoring of over 260 historic, archaeological and cultural sites identified by extensive UH surveys; and removal of invasive species. Compelling indicators of our success include removal of the endemic wēkiu bug from candidacy as an endangered species thanks to UH research and discovery of a previously unknown population of petrels on Maunakea through UH-sponsored field studies."
And the DLNR:
https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/57127686...hb2024-cd1
(Below are quotes from the above site)
- This bill requires the Authority to be financially self-sustaining. The lands on Mauna Kea are not revenue-generating lands. Requiring the Authority to be financially self-sustaining would lead to pressures to open conservation lands to commercial tourism.
- A moratorium on new leases until 2028 will make it very difficult to maintain existing observatories, which need to seek to have new leases by 2033.
- HB2024 CD1 requires new management plans. Extensive management plans are already in place.
- HB2024 CD1 requires the number of observatories to be limited. The number of observatories is already limited, with some in the process of being decommissioned.
- HB2024 CD1 requires prioritizing the reuse of footprints of decommissioned observatories as sites for facilities or improvements over the use of undeveloped lands for such purposes. The BLNR has required footprints be returned to their natural state and does not anticipate further development by UH of undeveloped lands.