The State of Hawaii has set up a new way to manage Mount Maunakea, which is home to many world-class astronomical observatories. The law, signed by Hawaii’s governor on July 7, removes the University of Hawaii’s role as the main body overseeing the land on which the telescopes are located, giving that responsibility to a newly formed group with a much broader community representation, including Native Hawaiians.
Many hope the move will mark the way forward for astronomy in Hawaii, after years of impasse over the future of the telescopes on Maunakea. Since 2015, some native Hawaiians have occasionally blocked the way to the summit, mainly to prevent the start of construction on the 30 Meter Telescope (TMT) a next-generation observatory that will have a huge light-gathering mirror to make astronomical discoveries. The sit-ins sparked widespread debate about the rights of indigenous peoples to have a say in the management of lands that are sacred to them but have been used for purposes including science.
The new Maunakea Authority will involve Native Hawaiians in making decisions about how the mountain is managed, with an emphasis on mutual stewardship and protection of Maunakea for future generations. The body will have 11 voting members, one of whom must be an active practitioner of Native Hawaiian cultural traditions and one of whom must be a descendant of a cultural practitioner associated with Maunakea. There are also spots for representatives from astronomy, education, land management, politics and other fields.
“I’m very hopeful for a new entity,” says Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, a Native Hawaiian elder who helped lead roadblocks on the mountain. “It’s beyond my imagination where we would be at this point because we’ve fought for so long to be heard.”
The University of Hawaii has managed most of the land around Maunakea’s summit since 1968, when the state granted it a 65-year lease to operate a scientific reserve focused on astronomy. Maunakea has an ideal sky for astronomical observation due to its altitude of 4200 meters and stable and dark night sky. The university must now transfer all of its management responsibilities, including a complex set of sub-leases, permits and other agreements, to the new authority by July 1, 2028. says Doug Simons, director of the university’s Institute for Astronomy in Manoa, Hawaii.
In addition to cultural practices and astronomy, Maunakea is used for a number of purposes, including tourism, hunting, and environmental science. It is currently home to 13 observatories, two of which are in the process of being decommissioned to help reduce the impact on the mountain. The new law came from a proposal by Scott Saiki, the speaker of the state House of Representatives, aimed at breaking the impasse around Maunakea. She created a task force that recommended changes in Maunakea’s management and led to the final plan to remove the University of Hawaii as chief executive.
The group was successful because it created a framework of mutual respect, says Rich Matsuda, associate director of external relations at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Waimea, Hawaii, who served as a member. “Things have often been framed as culture versus science,” he says. “That’s a kind of false dichotomy and offensive framing. Different knowledge systems and ways of looking at things don’t have to be in opposition to each other.” The law says that astronomy is the policy of the state of Hawaii. “The state says that astronomy is important to Hawaii, and that the state is investing in astronomy, but it’s even more invested in managing Maunakei as a special place that combination is absolutely key to me,” says John O’Meara. chief scientist at Keck, who has two 10-meter telescopes on Maunakea. “It’s reason for optimism.”
The fate of the telescope
There are many steps left. The first is to identify the individuals who will make up Maunakea’s new governing body likely to be appointed by the governor and then set it up to take over all the administrative and management tasks the university has been overseeing. The state Legislature will also have to provide money to fund the group beyond the $14 million allocated for the first year. And then there’s the matter of TMT. It has permission to proceed with construction, but has not yet done so due to tensions on the mountain. Last November, the project received a much-needed boost when the US’s 10-year survey of funding priorities in astronomy and astrophysics recommended it move forward.
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) is now considering funding the project, which does not have enough money to fully build the telescope with its partners in the United States, China, Canada, India and Japan. If NSF decides to join the TMT, at an estimated cost of $800 million, at least one-quarter of the telescope’s time will be open to observers from across the United States. It would also trigger a federal review of how construction of the telescope might affect Maunakea, which would have to be completed before work could begin.
For more read: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01926-2
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