astronomy

Although the mountain volcano Mauna Kea last erupted around 4000 years ago, it is still hot today, the center of a burning controversy over whether its summit should be used for astronomical observatories or preserved as a cultural landscape sacred to the Hawaiian people.

Although the mountain volcano Mauna Kea last erupted around 4000 years ago, it is still hot today, the center of a burning controversy over whether its summit should be used for astronomical observatories or preserved as a cultural landscape sacred to the Hawaiian people.

Town Meetings: Kailua-Kona, Waimea, Hilo
(Hawai‘i island)

October 1 – 4, 2001

The Hawaiian system of land use allowed access to all resources in the ahupua‘a, a land division that stretches from mountain to sea. Within the ahupua‘a, highly specialized technologies such as fishponds and lo‘i kalo (taro gardens) ensured an abundance of food.

Public Meeting: Waimea, Hawai‘i island
May 24, 1999

Public Meeting: Kona, Hawai‘i island
May 25, 1999

Public Meeting: Hilo, Hawai‘i island
May 27, 1999

Public Meetings: Waimea, Kona, Hilo

May 24 – 27, 1999

Testimony on the Mauna Kea Science Reserve Master Plan, recorded during three public meetings on Hawai‘i island.

Hilo, Hawai‘i –  March 21, 2002

The Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources held hearings on the highly controversial application by the University of Hawai‘i Institute for Astronomy for a Conservation District Use Permit to add six “outrigger” telescopes to their existing twin telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea.

Town Meeting: Hilo, October 3, 2001

In a series of four community meetings on Hawai’i island in October of 2001, representatives from NASA and the W. M. Keck Observatory presented their plan to add six new telescopes to their array atop Mauna Kea, including proposed plans for restoring disturbed habitat of the rare Wekiu bug.