Sacred summits, summit ecosystems, sacred landscape, timeline of events, legal protections, resources and documents

Author:

Kahea,

Title:

Sacred summits, summit ecosystems, sacred landscape, timeline of events, legal protections, resources and documents

Subject:

Mauna Kea Haleakala Sacred sites Astronomical observatories Mauna Kea controversy

Summary:

This document includes a description of how Mauna Kea and Haleakala have become the target of increasingly aggressive industrial development over the past 40 years. Included are graphs of the summit ecosystems of both areas, descriptions of the sacred landscapes and the cultural uses of these summit areas, a timeline of events that have occurred on both summits dated from pre-western contact to the year 2010. The author states how the laws that govern the appropriate use of these summits were to have been made clear through a Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), how there was no CMP in place for Haleakala as of the publication date of this document, how the last valid CMP for Mauna Kea was written in 1983, how that CMP limited the number of telescopes to 13 on the summit of Mauna Kea, and how 20 telescopes had been constructed on this summit, to date. The author also states that the Board of Land and Natural Resources, (BLNR), rubber-stamped plans in April, 2009 and in December, 2010 that would allow for the largest expansion of industrial land use on these summits. Described is how this action paved the way for the construction of an 18-story Thirty Meter Telescope to be built on Mauna Kea, for a 14-story Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) to be built on Haleakala, in addition to construction staging areas, supporting roads, vehicle traffic, parking, and more visitors to these areas. Included in this document is a list of resources and documents that provide more information regarding this issue.

URL:

http://kahea.org/issues/sacred-summits

Collection:

Monographs