Gov. David Ige and leadership from the State Senate and House of Representatives have extended the application deadline for the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority until Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.
The Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, which was established by statute via Act 255 (HB2024), will be tasked with managing Mauna Kea Lands. It will consist of 11 voting members who will each be appointed to three-year terms. The members will include:
- The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources, or the chairperson’s designee
- The mayor of the County of Hawaiʻi, or the mayor’s designee
- The chairperson of the board of regents of the University of Hawaiʻi, provided that the chairperson of the University of Hawaiʻi board of regents may designate a:
- Member of the board of regents; or
- Past member of the board of regents with experience with Mauna Kea to serve as the chairperson of the University of Hawaiʻi Board of regents’ designee. If a past member of the UH board of regents is appointed to fill this seat, the appointee shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.
- An individual with ʻāina (land) resource management expertise and specific experience with Hawaiʻi island‑based management (must be confirmed by the Senate).
- An individual who is recognized as possessing expertise in the fields of p-12 public education or post-secondary education (must be confirmed by the Senate).
- A representative who shall be appointed by the governor from a list of three names submitted by Mauna Kea Observatories (must be confirmed by the Senate).
- An individual with business and finance experience who has previous administrative experience in managing a large private-sector business (must be confirmed by the Senate).
- An individual who is a lineal descendent of a practitioner of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices associated with Mauna Kea (must be confirmed by the Senate).
- An individual who is a recognized practitioner of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices (must be confirmed by the Senate); and
- The governor shall appoint two members from a list of three names submitted for each appointment by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives (must be confirmed by the Senate)
In a statement Governor Ige said, “We need to stand up the authority as soon as possible with the launch of the National Science Foundation’s full environmental review of the Thirty Meter Telescope Project. However, we have heard from the community and will extend the deadline in the interest of attracting a diverse pool of qualified candidates.”
Interested parties can apply on the board and commissions website: https://forms.ehawaii.gov/pages/board-survey/ and click on the the “Department of Land & Natural Resources” tab.