Artifacts office must pick up pace

The troubles of Hawaii’s State Historic Preservation Division have been around almost long enough to become historic artifacts themselves. Bringing operations up to the levels insisted on by the National Park Service seemingly has become a Herculean effort, judging by the struggles going on at the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, where the division is based.

It took years of budget cuts, changes in command and general bureaucratic malaise for the situation to reach this stage, with chronic understaffing and shortcomings in databases and other functions taking their toll. But efforts now to counter the issues should have been accelerated earlier.

And now officials are up against a stern warning of "serious concerns," with severe consequences in the offing. Based on an April 19 letter, if the division doesn’t make better progress in its mandated corrective action plan, the NPS could decertify the office as an agency to handle the review of federal projects for impacts on historic resources.

That would mean a considerable loss of funds for the protection of things the state claims to value: Hawaii’s archaeological and architectural assets. The SHPD budget now totals $1.9 million, and a little less than a third of that comes from federal funds that would be endangered through decertification.

WILLIAM AILA, DLNR director, affirmed his confidence that the staffing shortages are on the verge of correction, and that the division will hit its marks sufficiently to head off such a disaster. The public stakeholders in this issue, those concerned with the protection of Hawaiian burials and other historic sites, have to hope that he is correct.

There are some hopeful signs to be gleaned from the letter, signed by Stephanie Toothman, an associate director at the NPS. She noted the progress in advancing the division’s National Register Program and various other operations, and complimented the "dedication and expertise of the current SHPD staff" and acknowledged lawmakers for setting aside additional staffing funds.

"However," Toothman continued, "we believe current staffing levels are not sufficient to meet the workload of the SHPD. … We remain concerned that, irrespective of any other factors, without sufficient staffing and adequate retention programs, the SHPD will not be able to satisfy the corrective actions" when the work is due for completion in about nine months.

There are myriad problems, not the least of which were salary levels too low to be competitive — flexibility ultimately was secured to raise them somewhat — and some bars that were set higher than the federal law requires. For example, by state law some of the key positions have to be filled by professionals working in the islands for a minimum of two years. Officials might have considered whether seeking a waiver of this requirement for the short term would have been a good plan.

FURTHER, the state invested $186,000 in a one-year contract with a consulting firm, Solutions Pacific LLC. Belatedly, its job list is being expanded to help hire short-term staff to reduce the agency’s enormous backlog of reviews; a higher priority should have been placed there sooner. NPS itself has assigned staff support to SHPD to provide assistance, as well, so the agency should be equipped to pass muster.

A smoothly functioning historic preservation office will be essential if large projects on the horizon — including rail and the expected expansion of military housing, to name two examples — are not to be bogged down. Taxpayers are holding their breath to see if that results from DLNR’s efforts, but it’s still too soon to exhale.