Prominent Native Hawaiians named to Mauna Kea authority

By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s governor has appointed several people, including some prominent Native Hawaiian activists, to a new board charged with managing Mauna Kea summit lands underneath some of the world’s most advanced astronomical observatories. Two appointees were leaders of 2019 protests that brought a halt to the construction of the latest telescope planned for the mountain on Hawaii’s Big Island. Many Native Hawaiians consider the summit sacred, and protesters objected to building yet another telescope there. The state created the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority in response to those protests. They crafted a new law saying Mauna Kea must be protected for future generations and that science must be balanced with culture and the environment.