Musings: Tightening the Noose

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources today is considering a new emergency rule for Mauna Kea that is likely to pit hunters and others against those trying to stop the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).

The proposed administrative rule — drafted by newly appointed DLNR Director Suzanne Case — designates all land within a mile of the 14-mile-long Mauna Kea Observatory Access Road as a “restricted area.” 

It further prohibits people from possessing or controlling backpacks, tents, blankets, tarpaulins, or other obvious camping paraphernalia in the restricted area, which encompasses some 18,000 acres and portions of two public hunting areas.

The restricted area also would be closed to all people, save those in motor vehicles traveling on the Access Road, between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The rule is an obvious attempt to give the state legal authority to boot the folks who have occupied a protest camp for some 100 days near the Mauna Kea visitor center, and placed rocks on the Access Road to block construction traffic.

The visitor center, with its restrooms and potable water, already has been closed to the public, along with the Access Road. Further restrictions on hunters and other recreational users will likely exacerbate the divide that already exists between those who support and oppose the $1.4 billion telescope project.

Violations would carry stiff penalties, ranging from a $2,500 civil fine for the first offense up to a $10,000 fine for a third offense. People also could face petty misdemeanor criminal charges that carry fines ranging from $500 to $2,000, 30-day jail sentences, vehicle forfeitures and loss of hunting licenses.

It's not unlike the strategy used by former Gov. Linda Lingle to stop Superferry protestors by creating an exclusionary “security zone” at Nawiliwili Harbor and threatening all who violated it with federal criminal charges and loss of their kids.

For some, the telescope project has come to symbolize the quest for Hawaiian self-governance, a cause I've long supported. Still, I and others remain perplexed that the stand has been taken against a telescope with global scientific and educational significance, while all manner of cheesy commercial projects sail through atop iwi kupuna and in other sacred places, with little or no outcry.

I mean, why are only Kaimi Hermosura and Jesse Steele standing up against the new Princeville project, which promises its super wealthy buyers the chance to be the “new konohiki” of an area that extends from Kilauea to Kee? Where are the "red shirts" and the cause groupies when you need them?

The state can adopt emergency rules to protect health, safety and natural resources. In justifying the new rule, state Attorney General Doug Chin issued a statement that campers have inadvertently introduced invasive species, brought in unauthorized Porta-Potties and reportedly caused visitors and workers to feel harassed.

“Consumption of water, which must be trucked up the mountain, is at record high usage. All of this has occurred in a partially graveled, steeply graded area without markings or guardrails,” the statement said.

Attorney Lanny Sinkin yesterday sought a temporary restraining order against the rule, but federal Judge Derrick Watson said it was premature, since no rule had been passed and it was unclear how, or if, the rights of spiritual practitioners would be denied.

So now another issue arises: Does the state's right to manage Mauna Kea, and protect public health and safety, trump Hawaiian cultural rights? It would be ironic indeed if the movement to stop the TMT ended up as a setback for Hawaiian rights.