House seeks panel to create new oversight on Mauna Kea

The state House of Representatives introduced a proposal Friday to form a working group assigned to develop a new management structure for Mauna Kea.

The resolution, promised by House Speaker Scott Saiki, will now be referred to committees for further discussion and hearings.

A concurrent resolution will be sent to the Senate, but Sen. Lorraine Inouye, chairwoman of the Senate Water and Land Committee, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Friday that she doesn’t plan to hold a hearing on the measure.

Inouye (D, Kaupulehu-­Waimea-North Hilo) said that while she was once highly critical of the University of Hawaii’s oversight of Mauna Kea, the management has vastly improved over the years.

“They’ve come a long way,” she said.

But Rep. David Tarnas (D, Kaupulehu-­Waimea-Halaula), who introduced both a concurrent and House resolution, said the working group can be formed by the House even if the Senate doesn’t go along with the proposal.

“We have a responsibility to manage our public trust resources,” said Tarnas, chairman of the House Water and Land Committee.

According to the resolution, the working group would develop the recommendations for a governance and management structure and publish a report by the end of the year.

The panel would consist of 14 members: seven Native Hawaiian representatives and seven “stakeholders,” including three members of the House and a chairman all appointed by the speaker.

Others group members would represent the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, state Board of Land and Natural Resources, Mauna Kea Observatories and UH Board of Regents.

The resolution directs the working group to consider the findings of the BLNR- commissioned report that examined how the university is carrying out the management actions in the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan.

That report, by Hono­lulu­-based consulting firm Ku‘iwalu, gave the university mixed reviews in its management of the mountaintop science reserve, home to 13 observatories.

While UH has carried out most of the plan’s management actions and it appears the natural and cultural resources on Mauna Kea are being effectively managed, the university failed to adequately consult with and engage Native Hawaiians in its efforts, the report said.

According to the House resolution, the failure of the university to reach out to Native Hawaiians has led to mistrust and polarization within the community.

“This mismanagement, mistrust, and polarization must be reconciled,” it says.

Mauna Kea has swirled with controversy over the last six years as scores of Native Hawaiians and others protested, challenged and blocked the planned construction of the $2.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope.

Construction plans are on hold for the winter and possibly longer, depending on the pandemic’s impact on the project.

The TMT isn’t mentioned in the resolution, but some have suggested it represents yet another attempt to find a compromise that will allow construction to proceed.

Tarnas, a veteran Big Island environmental planner whose district includes several observatory headquarters, said that while he hopes the TMT goes forward, the effort is not focused on the next-generation telescope.

“The governance structure of the mountain needs to be figured out no matter what happens with the TMT,” he said.

And although Saiki called on UH to halt its efforts to renew its Mauna Kea master lease, the resolution does not mention the lease. Tarnas said he didn’t want to undermine the university’s efforts to extend the master lease beyond its 2033 expiration date.

Samuel Wilder King II, a Native Hawaiian and executive director of the pro-TMT group Imua TMT, said that while he applauds any effort to improve management of the mountain, he’s concerned it could grow into a distraction and generate confusion that will end up hurting astronomy in Hawaii, including the future of the TMT.