Management Plans and Updates
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Maunakea is a revered mountain where landscape, community, and culture combine to inspire discovery, renewal, and world-class education and research. The University of Hawaiʻi (UH) Board of Regents (BOR) adopted the Master Plan for the University of Hawaiʻi Maunakea Lands: E Ō I Nā Leo (Listen to the Voices) on January 20, 2022. The Plan replaces the Master Plan the BOR adopted in 2000. The 2022 Master Plan serves as a framework for aligning land-use decisions in a manner that is consistent with UH’s mission and purpose. Its overarching goals are related to responsible stewardship, maintaining leadership in astronomy, diversifying educational pursuits and seeking balance among those who come to Maunakea.
Master Plan for the University of Hawaiʻi Maunakea Lands
The adoption of the Master Plan for the University of Hawaiʻi Maunakea Lands: E Ō I Nā Leo (Listen to the Voices) on January 20, 2022, commits UH to a framework for aligning land-use decisions in a manner that is consistent with UH’s mission and purpose. The plans overarching goals are related to responsible stewardship, maintaining leadership in astronomy, diversifying educational pursuits and seeking balance among those who come to Maunakea.
Master Plan Documents
Master Plan for the University of Hawaiʻi Maunakea Lands: E Ō I Nā Leo (Listen to the Voices)
Volume 1 - January, 2022 (13 Mb PDF)
Volume 2 - January, 2022 (63 Mb PDF)
Archived Prior Master Plan Documents
Comprehensive Management Plan
The Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) provides a management framework for the University to undertake measures to protect the cultural landscape and natural resources in the UH Management Areas on Maunakea. The CMP was approved by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) in April 2009. In 2010 the BLNR approved the four sub-plans of the CMP addressing public access, cultural resources management, natural resources management, and decommissioning of telescope facilities.
In July 2022, UH completed an update of the CMP that was finalized and approved by Board of Regents (BOR) and BLNR after substantial public input from the community as well as several Department of Land and Natural Resources divisions including the State Historic Preservation Division, Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.
The BLNR-approved CMP supplement amends and updates two of seven sections (Management Environment and Management Component Plans sections) of the CMP that was originally approved by the BOR and BLNR in 2009.
The outreach process for developing the CMP supplement included a month-long public input period. This process provided various commenting opportunities, including invitations to meet and an online tool to make comments directly on the draft CMP supplement. Comments could also be provided via telephone messages and by mail.
Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) Documents
- Final CMP 2022 Supplement Vol. 1 - July 2022 (10 Mb PDF)
- Final CMP 2022 Supplement Vol. 2 - July 2022 (13 Mb PDF)
- Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan - April 2009 (3.2 Mb PDF)
- Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan Appendices - April 2009 (4.4 Mb PDF)
New Land Authorization
The University is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). However, UH has paused this work per Act 255. While UH is no longer pursuing a new land authorization, the EIS work itself is anticipated to be used by the Maunakea Stewardship Oversight Authority and/or the Maunakea Observatories (including UH) for future land authorizations. There will be a public review process before the new land authorization request goes to the Board of Land and Natural Resources for approval.
The EIS Preparation Notice (EISPN) for this effort was published in 2018 and identified alternatives that UH is considering.
EISPN (9MB PDF)
TMT Permitting and Environmental Review
The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is the first project subject to 2009 Comprehensive Management Plan procedural requirements. On September 28, 2017, the State of Hawaiʻi Board of Land & Natural Resources made a final decision granting a permit for the construction and operation of TMT. The related Conservation District Use Application (CDUA), Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and State of Hawaiʻi Board of Land & Natural Resources final decision and order (approval) for TMT are below.
- Final EIS - Volume 1 (PDF)
- Final EIS - Volume 2 - Section 8, Comments & Responses (PDF)
- Final EIS - Volume 3 - Appendices (PDF)
- Conservation District Use Application (CDUA), HA-3568 (PDF)
- Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision and Order, HA-3568 - Board of Land & Natural Resources (PDF)
- Notice to Proceed, Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP) HA-3568, 19 June 2019 (PDF)
- More documents on DLNR's TMT web page.