At 13,796-feet above sea level, Mauna Kea is close enough to the heavens to give astronomers some of the best views of the universe found anywhere in the world.
Since scientists began to develop its snow-capped summit in the 1960s, they have aimed 13 telescopes skyward. They are part of a $150-million-a-year program managed by the University of Hawai'i that also includes telescopes on Haleakala.
Astronomers have looked at asteroids that might threaten Earth, scanned the fringes of the sun, tried to look into black holes and gazed into the center of the galaxy.
But Mauna Kea is equally important to Hawaiians, a cultural lens on their past.
It is said to be home to the Hawaiian goddesses of snow and mist and an icy lake where generations of Hawaiians have offered their children's umbilical cords to connect them to the spiritual world. Some Hawaiians view it the way Christians view a church.
At best, the two groups are uneasy neighbors, and in the late 1990s, scientific and sacred collided during discussions over future use of the mountain.
Critics said the mountain had been overdeveloped. In 1998, the state auditor said the university was a poor steward of Mauna Kea, citing trash and debris left behind by astronomers, visitors and construction crews. The audit also said the university lacked respect for Hawaiian culture on Mauna Kea.
In June 2000, the university's Board of Regents adopted a master plan for responsible stewardship and use of university-managed land on Mauna Kea through 2020.
But by December 2005, the state auditor was again critical of the university, despite improvements that included the hiring of five rangers to oversee the mountain. Among the examples: Nearly three-quarters of the 13,321-acre science reserve controlled by the university had not been inventoried for archaeological sites. The same audit was also critical of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for failing to complete historic preservation or cultural management plans for the mountain.
