MKRUG Board Meeting
| 11/04/2009 | ||
| 5:30 pm | to | 7:30 pm |
Meeting to be held at 5:30pm at 447 Kalanianaole Ave at Big Island Power Sports.
Print This Post
Third Organizational Meeting
| 10/21/2009 | ||
| 7:30 pm |
The third organizational meeting of the Mauna Kea Recreational Users Group will be held at 5:30pm, Wednesday, 10/21/09 at Big Island Power Sports, 447 Kalanianaole Ave in Hilo.
For further information call 961-3033 or Wayne@mk200.com
Print This Post
Second organizational meeting
| 10/14/2009 | ||
| 5:30 pm | to | 7:30 pm |
The second organizational meeting of the Mauna Kea Recreational Users Group will be held at 5:30pm, Wednesday, 10/14/09 at Big Island Power Sports, 447 Kalanianaole Ave in Hilo.
For further information call 961-3033 or Wayne@mk200.com
Print This Post
Result – First organizational meeting on 10/9/09
The first organizational meeting of the Mauna Kea Recreational Users Group was held 5:30pm, Friday, 10/9/09 at Onekahakaha Beach Park. Present were:
- Wayne Blyth – Rock Island Riders
- Dennis Vierra – Big Island Dual-Sport Association
- Ed Ung – Rock Island Riders
- Tony Ferreira – ATV Riders Association
- Steve Hurt – Big Island Bird Hunters
- Alan Mefford – ATV Riders Association
- Dexter Egdamin – OSOK
- Tom Lodge – Big Island Club
Other persons consulted with that were there in spirit, if not physically were Lloyd Case and Steven Araujo of the Wildlife Conservation, and Chris Seymour of the Big Island Mountain Bike Association.
Agenda:
1. Welcome & Introduction of participants
2. Why you have been invited to this meeting
3. What are we trying to accomplish 4. How do we move forward
5. Seek volunteers for organizing committee
6. Discussion
Some of the ideas discussed:
Benefits of Organizing
- Greater political & public relations influence
- Provide a contact point for a wide range of recreational users to government agencies, land managers, other users (commercial operators, UH astronomy, PTA, etc) and the press.
- Provide a forum for identifying conflicts between user groups and developing mutually beneficial solutions (take solutions rather than problems and complaints to the land managers.
- Provide resources to land managers to support effective management programs (expert persons, educational materials, man power).
- Provide a medium for communication between individual users and groups, and education to foster responsible use of public lands and understanding & respect for other users needs & desires.
Goals
- Work to maximize the public’s access and use of public lands. State and Federal lands are not private property, these lands belong to the people and should be managed to the benefit of the public and not just the select few.
- Work to re-order public land management priorities to put the people first. Right now we are lucky if we even get a seat at the table. Recreation is a human need and not an option; it is the governments duty to provide for recreational use of public lands.
- Develop a clear and understandable platform and communicate this to the general public in a fashion that people can easily identify with. This is the only way to put enough pressure on the government to achieve our goals.
Everyone was in general agreement that organizing must be done; that a cooperative effort by all would be much more effective than what has happened in the past. It was also agreed that we should move quickly to organize and establish our voice.
A follow-up meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 10/14/09 at Big Island Power Sports, 447 Kalanianaole Ave, Hilo.
Submitted by Wayne Blyth wayne@mk200.com
Print This Post
Who is the Ahahui Ku Mauna anyway?
In 2008 (I’m not sure of the exact time because I lost my notes) I atended a meeting at the Hilo DOFAW office about what to do about illegal off-road riding at Puu Kanalaleonui. In attendance were members of the Rock Island Riders and officials from DOWFAW, National Parks, Mauna Kea rangers and DOCARE. Also in attendance was Mr. Ed Stevens that I interpreted to be a representative from the Hawaiian Community.
One of the ideas that came from this meeting was that a sign would be placed at the puu to communicated the sacredness of the site. The wording was to be provided by Mr. Stevens’ group and paid for by DOWFAW (Na Ala Hele?).
The sign says it is posted by Ahahui Ku Mauna. According to Allan Ikawa, former member of the UH Board of Regents, Ahahui Ku Mauna was formed in 2000 by Senator Inouye and his representative Bill Kikuchi. (see http://mk200.com/mkrug/?p=27 )
Hmmm
Looking for bugs on Puu Makanaka?
In 2002, at the May 7 meeting of the Mauna Kea Management Board the Director reported on a field trip to do a survey of Wekiu bugs on Puu Makanaka.
“During the last two weeks of April and first week of May, a group of biologists and cultural
specialists from the Bishop Museum, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Area Reserves System
(NAR), and State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD), participated in a survey of wēkiu in the
Science Reserve and Ice Age NAR. One of the objectives of the survey was to begin gathering data
on the spatial distribution of the wēkiu on Mauna Kea, particularly in areas that were not previously
or extensively surveyed in the past including Pu‘u Makanaka and Keonehehe‘e.Ed Stevens provided a cultural orientation of Mauna Kea to the entire group the evening prior to the
survey teams heading into the field. Holly McEldowney (SHPD) and Guy Kaulukukui (Bishop
Museum) accompanied the teams working in the NAR and Pu‘u Makanaka, respectively. They
provided cultural advice, including how to proceed if the survey crews encountered an archeological
site.”
Puu Makanaka is on the north-east outer edge of the Science Reserve lease near to Puu Kanakaleonui. The wekiu is the same bug that gave them grief at the summit. Why were they bothering? What about the miles of area in between?
Hmmm
Print This Post
Future observatory at Puu Makanaka?
Is the State planning a future telescope on Puu Makanaka? The circle shape with the three bumps are the boundary of UH’s Science Reserve. Those bumps include three Puus, including Puu Makanaka in their lease. Why are they there? The UH has paved the summit road within the 2.5 mile radius of their lease to control dust. In the map below the red circle represents a 2.5 mile radius around Puu Makanaka. Could the dust from vehicles on R-1 and other roads in the vicinity of Puu Kanakaleonui create a dust problem for an observatory there? How would they access Puu Makanaka? Road from the summit or R-1?
Some may say that the UH has limited Observatory development to the 525 acre “astronomy precinct” which includes the existing summit telescopes and, coincidently, the proposed location for the Thiry Meter Telescope (TMT), but not including the VLBA. ??? Of course the “astronomy precinct” was created only by action of the UH Board of Regents and presumably be changed by the same means.
Hmmm
Print This Post
Hawaiians and Recreation
How do the hawaiian community groups feel about recreational use on Mauna Kea? Many have assumed that they are at best ambivalent. Maybe not?
In a May , 2005 letter from the Royal Order of Kamehameha I which clarifies their position on Mauna Kea is the following quote.
We continue to support:
1. No further expansion/development on Mauna Kea.
2. Charging reasonable lease rent. (Our report suggests at least $50 million a year, for various purposes, including education, health care and housing for native Hawaiians. We ask no money for ourselves or our organizations.)
3. Removing the University’s control of Mauna Kea through the formation of an independent management authority with Hawaiian, environmental and recreational groups having real input and voting power. We do not support our people holding advisory positions to the University with no decision-making power.
Hmmm
Here is the entire document cited above: Royal Order of Kamehameha I Letter
Print This Post
Stay of execution for the R-1 Recreational Riding Permit program
Rumors have been flying about for the past several weeks that DOFAW was going to discontinue allowing ATV and motorcycle access to Mauna Kea’s R-1 and R-10. The presumed reason was continuing off-road riding at Puu Kanakaleonui. Several versions of the rumors where citing different conditions of closure, and different timing of the action.
On September 30,2009 Roger Imoto, the Big Island Branch Manager announced that he was taking no action at this time pending additional investigation into other possible management solutions. In a phone conversation with him that afternoon I told him of the upcoming meeting October 9th to attempt to organize the Mauna Kea Recreational Users Group (MkRug). He seemed interested and I told him that we would keep him informed of our progress.
Print This Post
