(AP) — Two Hawai’i legislative committees passed a resolution creating a working group to develop recommendations for new management of the state’s tallest mountain, Mauna Kea. The peak is the site of a years-long dispute between those who support conducting world-leading astronomy research there and those who believe the modern telescopes desecrate a place many Native Hawaiians believe is sacred. The University of Hawai’i currently manages the summit under a 65-year lease from the state of Hawaii that’s due to expire in 2033. Critics say the university has done a poor job of consulting Native Hawaiians since observatory construction began there in the late 1960s.
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