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What shook the Mauna Kea status quo irreversibly, however, was a scorching State Legislative Auditor report delivered in February 1998. The report slammed both the university and the state government for negligence on Mauna Kea with regard to management of cultural sites and environmental impact. According to the report, promises to hire security and enforcement personnel to patrol the mountaintop had gone unfulfilled, as had a promise to complete an archaeological survey of the summit for Hawaiian cultural sites. Critical habitats had allegedly been damaged during construction projects on Mauna Kea. "They had a land manager who was signing documents and construction permits who had never been to the top of Mauna Kea," says Nelson Ho, a regional vice president for the Sierra Club and a Big Island resident.

Although they admitted some culpability, the astronomers believed that they were far from the devils the audit made them out to be. "We weren't hearing the message," says UH's McLaren. "The Hawaiians weren't speaking out 10 years ago or even five years ago like they [are] today. Required permits for all of the telescope projects were handled in public meetings. Until 1995, there was essentially no real complaints or opposition in these meetings," adds McLaren, who also found fault with the auditor's claims of environmental damage resulting from the astronomers' activities. "It's long on opinion and short on facts to back it up. It reads more like an editorial than an audit," says McLaren.

University of Hawaii is not the first institution to face the prickly issue of reconciling indigenous cultures with the needs of astronomers. The remote mountaintops that astronomers crave often prove to have been prime real estate for ancient cultures, who were likewise drawn by the clear views of the heavens. University of Arizona astronomers sought out Native American leaders for counsel before planning and building a telescope atop Mount Graham.

"For more than a decade now, we have been talking to the various tribes of the Southwest and listening to what they want us to do," says Buddy Powell, assistant director of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. Although it took years of dialogue to build up trust, Powell believes that he now enjoys a strong relationship with the native peoples. "While they have different areas of specific concerns, one thing that comes clear is: Treat the land with dignity and respect. Do not go up there and bulldoze wide spaces. The Great Provider provides the land for our living and for our life. But you must only use that which you absolutely need."

While it's too late for UH to seek pre-construction counsel, a 23-person advisory board has begun slogging toward consensus on a new development plan for Mauna Kea. Its final plans will likely be presented to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents later this summer. Although representatives from the astronomy, environmental and native Hawaiian communities are all present on the board, the year-long process of closed-door meetings has drawn fire and distrust from those not included.

For their part, the astronomers say they truly wish to be good neighbors. They have agreed to a moratorium on further developments atop the summit until the new management plan is worked out. They have agreed to reduce the parcel subject to scientific development to 525 acres from the original 11,228, of which only 70 or 80 will likely be developed, according to McLaren. They have forsworn any building that will affect cinder cones -- significant geological formations of cultural importance -- on the summit. Part of the management plan also provides for UH funding of a new management agency that will oversee the environmental and historical preservation efforts. Finally, a board of native Hawaiians will advise further developments on the mountaintop.

But the basic reins to Mauna Kea will remain in the hands of UH and the Board of Regents, a problem for groups that had hoped to get a binding stake in the final decision process. For some of the native Hawaiians and environmentalists, the new management plan does not go far enough. They argue that the existing telescopes and their sponsoring organizations (which include the California Institute of Technology and the Smithsonian Institution) should cough up cash to help right the past wrongs. "The whole process is a sham. The board is appointed and it's not binding. It's like the missionaries all over again ... These white people come in and do what they want to do without asking anybody," said one Big Island source who is familiar with the issue and the players.

Will there ever be peace on the mountain? The prospects are grim. There are four telescopes on Mauna Kea that are at least 20 years old and thus ripe for replacement. And astronomy is moving toward either far bigger telescopes, with even larger mirrors, or else arrays of smaller telescopes (called interferometers) that take up considerable space. For many native Hawaiians, even one more telescope on Mauna Kea will be too much.

"I don't think we are ever going to make everybody happy. But what we are trying to do is have a better dialogue with some of these groups than we have in the past. Many of the issues that are raised by the Hawaiian community transcend Mauna Kea. Although Mauna Kea may just be a microcosm of these issues, it is a big, visible symbol," says McLaren.
salon.com | July 30, 1999

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