Artifacts office must pick up pace

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, May 11, 2012

~~<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
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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. Login for more...