"We will stand forever," Hawane Rios vowed, upon returning to Mauna Kea after she and others had been arrested last week for violating rules against camping on the mountain. "We are not going anywhere."

Such strong resolve is serving the Native Hawaiian protesters well — but it is sorely lacking from Gov. David Ige’s administration, and this is not in the best interests of the state of Hawaii.

The state’s hesitancy undermines confidence in how staunchly it supports the proposed $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope, as well as the staffers at existing observatories atop Mauna Kea.

It’s an erosion that needs shoring up, lest more damage is done to Hawaii’s reputation as a place for investment and aspiration.

Some five months after an international consortium received its permit to start construction of the TMT atop Mauna Kea, things have come to a standstill before they’ve barely even begun.

Protesters — protectors, as they see themselves — have repeatedly and successfully blocked construction access to the summit, citing the mountain’s sacredness to Native Hawaiians.

On Wednesday, the state enforced its policy banning Mauna Kea camping and restricting access between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., with the arrest of Rios and seven others. It was only the second time the state had taken action on its own 180-day emergency rule, and it is that relaxed approach that has emboldened protesters and allowed the stalemate to continue.

Doug Simons, director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope atop Mauna Kea, is right in calling for consistency in state enforcement of its own emergency rule.

"The protesters have demonstrated the will and means to block the summit access road on very short notice," he told the Star- Advertiser’s Tim Hurley last week. "This tactic effectively traps staff above the roadblock and leaves an unacceptable safety risk in the event of an emergency medical evacuation from the summit."

It is an urgent situation — both for workers at existing telescopes atop Mauna Kea as well as for the TMT, which went through an arduous, seven-year permitting process with the state Land Board before getting the green light to build in April.

They have the right to proceed and deserve a clear path, literally and figuratively.

But they are getting uneven, scant support from the Ige administration, which largely says it continues to study the situation.

The Native Hawaiian protesters claim that Mauna Kea is sacred, and they do have constitutionally protected rights to free speech and to reasonably engage in cultural practices.

The right to protest, however, is not entitlement to impede.

Further, significant concessions already have been won from Ige and astronomy leaders on needed aspects such as improved stewardship of the summit site, and removal of obsolete telescopes.

Respect must come from both sides.

For the protesters to dismiss such strides and insist on complete banishment from the mountain is simply not reasonable, and ignores the bevy of scientific advancement, educational opportunities and economic benefits from the TMT and other observatories.

Of course, looming large over this standoff is an anxiously awaited ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court, on whether proper Land Board procedure was followed in the awarding of TMT’s permit.

That stands to be significant, but it’s unknown when the court will rule; further, the governor’s office itself says that appeal has no bearing on Mauna Kea rule enforcement.

With so much at stake, leaving things in limbo, as it currently stands, is not leadership.