On Friday, the Board of the Department of Land and Natural Resources in Honolulu met for an informational briefing on the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP).

It was an overflow crowd. People were standing in the hallway.

Because there were people from the outer islands that came to testify, the agenda was changed to move the CMP hearing up front. Five people from the Kanaka Council flew in from the Big Island.

The Kanaka Council testified against the CMP, and then also spoke about larger issues. I was very impressed with its presentation, which was clear, respectful and thoughtful.  The Council was represented by Kale Gumapac (Alaka‘i), Palikapu Dedman, Jimmy Medeiros, Rocky Jensen and Lenwood Vaspra.

It is very significant that they were able to state their position on the big picture. People hearing them for the first time might write them off as another group of “anti-everything” people. But I have worked with the Kanaka Council on various projects and I think I heard a different message than most. I heard that they are willing to discuss things because they can see the larger picture — and this is very hopeful.

From here, if there is honest give and take, there can be progress. I believe that we can find some workable middle ground.

KAHEA also gave testimony. That is a slick, media-savvy organization that has done some admirable work over the years. KAHEA has people on its staff who had prepared supporting documents, which they handed to the board as their testimony was presented.

My kuleana is sustainability, and I testified in favor of the CMP. I talked about how I volunteered for the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) committee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board back when it was formed. If there was going to be a new large telescope on the mountain, I wanted to help make sure that it was done right. I talked about astronomy on Mauna Kea and our Adopt-a-Class project.

I also mentioned that I was there to represent my workers, who work hard trying to make a better future for their children. I mentioned that the astronomy industry could provide good jobs for Hawai‘i’s people. Hardly anyone wants their children to be tomato or banana farm workers.

I said that as a farmer, I worry about our ability to feed Hawai‘i’s people when fertilizer prices again soar out of sight. I said that educating our keiki will help us solve this problem. And the astronomy industry is willing to give us money to help us do this. But at the same time, that we need to make sure that we malama Mauna Kea.

The world has changed. The oil supply will, again, be unable able to keep up with demand, and we will have trouble feeding ourselves. I told the DLNR board that we are vulnerable out here in the middle of the ocean, and that we cannot give up any advantage we may have. Future generations will judge us on how wise we are today.

Chairwoman Thielen asked Dawn Chang of Ku‘iwalu, the consultant who created the CMP for the University of Hawai‘i, if the issues raised by the Kanaka Council are addressed in the CMP, and Dawn replied that some are and others are not. Dawn added that she will follow up on their concerns.

Kale told me that they are going to form an ad hoc committee, as this is going to take up a lot of their time. As long as there is dialog, we will be making progress.

Today, Kale told me they are very upset about the “power grab” bills that are going through the legislature. These were the bills that allow for enforcing the rules in the CMP. He said they have some hard questions for Dawn Chang when they speak again this week.

Hanalei Fergerstrom told me that someone’s lele (altar) on Mauna Kea was just destroyed. I called Stephanie Nagata, interim director of the Office of Mauna Kea Management, who told me that they had noticed the lele and were discussing how to protect it.

I had thought that the bill Kale told me about would enable the Rangers to protect the public safety, as well as such things as this lele. I have to admit that I have not read all the bills. Maybe they can be tweaked so this can work for all concerned.

I told Kale that I am concerned about the timeline for the Thirty-Meter Telescope.

The TMT was the 800-pound gorilla in the room. That project is on a strict timeline, because time is money. They need to make a decision by June 2009. This means that the CMP would have to be completed by April, so that the information can be incorporated into the TMT’s Environmental Impact statement.

The Comprehensive Management Plan can proceed on schedule as long as there isn’t anything in it that would trigger an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). So the CMP cannot be a “building” or “take down” plan, because both of those things trigger an EIS. If an EIS is triggered, the TMT will go away because of time constraints.

So there it is. All out in the open.  Let’s see if we can work together on this. The world has changed and we do not have time to fool around.