Musings: National Attention

It’s a new moon today, so it wasn’t showing, not that it would have been seen through the clouds. But by the end of our walk, I did see a faint white orb, masquerading as the sun, peeking out of the gray.

I like the chilly rain we’ve been having. It’s not the lie-on-the-beach weather most tourists dream of, although it might look good to an East Coaster. My sister sent me a copy of the Sunday New York Times travel section, whose cover featured the kind of dreamy photo of Na Pali that would make anyone want to come visit.

Knowing the crowds we already get at poor, beleaguered Ke`e, I couldn’t bear to read it. But I did glance through the photos and didn’t see any of trucks sporting the newest window decals: Keep it Kaua`it and NOCOMEKAUAI.

Meanwhile, the struggle over who will control the fisheries and other resources in the Northwester Hawaiian Islands has found an audience in Washington.

U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman is calling for a federal investigation into the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council (Wespac) and its director, Kitty Simonds, over its use of federal funds.

The Congressman’s request are detailed in a letter to the Government Accountability Office.

The circumstances leading up to this are rather complicated, but I covered it in some detail in a recent Honolulu Weekly story.

The gist of it is whether Wespac, with its interests in maintaining commercial fisheries, had an undue influence in creating the Aha Moku council program.

That program is an effort by the state to bring traditional cultural practices into resource management, and promote local stewardship.

The allegations of wrong-doing were initially made by Kauai’s own Makaala Kauamoana and former Big island Council Woman Keiko Bonk, among others.

It’s not clear who got Waxman’s attention, but the letter refers to credible sources that raised similar concerns. Hmmm.

I’m not sufficiently versed in the dirt about Wespac and its director to recount it, although I’ve heard quite a lot. Let’s just say, this will be interesting to watch.