The University of Hawaii is seeking input from the public on proposed changes to its master plan for the Maunakea summit region, including revisions to allow for decommissioned observatory sites to be reused for astronomical purposes in the future.

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The University of Hawaii is seeking input from the public on proposed changes to its master plan for the Maunakea summit region, including revisions to allow for decommissioned observatory sites to be reused for astronomical purposes in the future.

UH has managed the summit land since 1968. However, it is preparing to hand over that responsibility in 2029 to the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, a state agency formed following years of tension over the presence of observatories on the mauna. MKSOA was created in 2022 by the state Legislature through Act 255, with the goal of bringing stakeholders together to come up with a comprehensive management plan for the mountain. However, in the meantime, the existing UH plan will remain in place.

At a meeting of the MKSOA Board this week, Gregory Chun, the executive director of the UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship, introduced the proposed changes to the UH plan. He told board members the university felt it was important to ensure its plan aligns with MKSOA, which prompted the UH governing body, the Board of Regents, to explore several amendments.

“In February of this year, the Board of Regents directed CMS to begin the process of looking at amending our master plan to ensure its consistency with Act 255 and the guidance that Act 255 provides MKSOA as it pertains to the reuse of decommissioned sites,” Chun said.

One difference, he said, was that as part of a commitment to decrease the number of observatories at the summit, the UH plan, which was drafted in 2022, prohibited the site of decommissioned observatories from being considered for future astronomy-related uses.

Act 255, on the other hand, states that MKSOA’s plan for the mountain may include “prioritizing the reuse of footprints of observatories that are scheduled for decommissioning, or have been decommissioned, as sites for facilities or improvements over the use of undeveloped lands for such purposes.”

Chun emphasized that the proposed amendments would not impact UH’s previous commitment, which laid out its intention to have no more than a total of nine observatories on the mountain after 2033. There are currently a dozen, down from 14 astronomy sites in 2020, with several more set to be decommissioned.

“There are no changes to our commitments in our master plan to the overall astronomy footprint post 2033 — which is what our plan covered — that we said there would only be nine observatories going forward beyond that, and our commitments to decommissioning, as stated in the master plan, remain unchanged…,” he said. “The only thing that changed here was the eligibility to reuse those decommissioned astronomy cells.”

MKSOA Board member Neil Hannahs questioned whether the changes were aimed at facilitating the potential construction of the Thirty-Meter Telescope, a proposed observatory that would have been the largest at the summit area, but was put on hold following large protests in 2019.

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Since then, TMT management has announced the intention to explore placing the observatory at the former site of the decommissioned Caltech Submillimeter Observatory instead of its originally planned location.

Fellow MKSOA board member Lanakila Mangauil echoed Hannahs’ concern.

“As you just noted, TMT has made a public statement about wanting, about the idea, of moving it to a previously disturbed site, and now the university is showing this direct flip that would actually make that something plausible,” Mangauil said.

Chun said the amendments were not tailored to enable TMT, and emphasized the goal was to align the UH plan with Act 255 and MKSOA transition.

“In addition to the alignment issue, the university is very, very aware that there exists a perception in some circles that we are not doing enough to support or align with the transition,” he said. “We’ve been directed by the regents and executive management to make sure we take every step that we can to be in sync with you folks. This was one step, as small as it is, that we identified we could take at this time.”

The amendments are currently available for review by the public online.

Feedback on the changes is set to be accepted until Wednesday, Sep. 16. Chun said he hoped to present input from community members and the MKSOA board at the Board of Regents’ October meeting for the amendments to be approved.

However, at the MKSOA meeting, board member Noe Noe Wong-Wilson said she was concerned that would not provide enough time for community members to understand the changes. She made a motion to allow an additional month to review the new material and to discuss it again at MKSOA’s next board meeting, which passed.

Chun said he would discuss the delayed timeline with UH President Wendy
Hensel and that it is likely the public comment period would be extended.

The revisions to the UH Maunakea Master Plan can be viewed at https://mkmp.konveio.com. Registration and the creation of an account is necessary to submit comments, but can be done anonymously.

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Email Grace Inez Adams at [email protected]