Ige listens to Hawaii

SUBHEAD: The recent DLNR Chairperson selection and current Muana Kea TMT resistance have shown Hawaii Governor hears the people.

By Kealoha Pisciotta on 7 April 2015 for Mauna Kea Protectors -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2015/04/ige-listens-to-hawaii.html)


Image above: Big Island police officer embraces an Mauna Kea Protector before arrests on 4/2/15 began.  From (http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2015/04/02/video-several-arrested-in-mauna-kea-tmt-blockade/).

Mauna Kea TMT on Hold

We applaud Governor Ige for stepping forward to take some kind of action in this crisis.

His call for a one-week halt to Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) construction is a victory for the Mauna Kea Protectors, clear evidence that he recognizes the worldwide groundswell of public support we have for halting further desecration of our sacred mountain. Mahalo, Governor Ige.

However, it is not enough to pause for a week. We need a commitment from the Governor or TMT to stop the desecration until our legal appeals can work their way through the courts to the State Supreme Court.

We’re grateful for the Governor’s action, but this welcome pause does not mean we’re standing down from our vigil of protection, during which so many people have had an opportunity to experience first-hand and from afar the deepest meanings of aloha and the power of peaceful expressions of protest against injustice and environmental disregard.

Many Hawaiians participating in the Merrie Monarch Festival are coming up the mountain with pain in their hearts, so our continued presence for them is essential.

Until there is a commitment from TMT and its international partners to stop their desecration of Mauna Kea, we will stand strong on the mountain to defend it. We are discouraged by the Canadian Prime Minister’s action yesterday to commit his nation’s funds to this lawless project and the desecration of our sacred mountain, and only days after Native Hawaiians were arrested for protecting their mountain. Shame on him!

We also continue to hold our vigil for our brothers and sisters who were arrested last week and who face criminal prosecution unless the Governor or the County Prosecutor drop these unjust and legally dubious charges.

Our Deepest Aloha and Mahalo again go out to all the people across the planet who have expressed their support for our mountain and our cause!

Contact Kealoha Pisciotta (keomaivg@gmail.com



Ige names new DLNR head

By Staff on 7 April 2015 for the Star Advertiser -
(http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20150407_Senate_extends_deadline_for_Ige_to_submit_cabinet_nominees.html)


Image above: Suzanne Case stands with Governor David Ige during her selection announcement. From original article.

Gov. David Ige announced Tuesday the nomination of Suzanne Case, the executive director of the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, to lead the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Case joined the Nature Conservancy in 1987 and took the helm of the group in 2001. The group says it manages 16 nature reserves totaling 53,000 acres. In 2003, Case oversaw the purchase of the 117,000-acre Kahuku Ranch on the Big Island and its transfer to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, according to the group's website. She also oversaw the purchase of Palmyra Atoll, where the group manages a preserve.

Case was born in Hilo and attended Punahou School, where she was the first female student body president, according the Nature Conservancy. She graduated from Stanford University, and received a law degree from Hastings College of the Law, University of California, San Francisco.

Ige's announcement came nearly three weeks after he pulled the nomination of his first choice to lead DLNR, Castle & Cooke Hawaii's vice president of community relations Carleton Ching.

Ige withdrew Ching's name on March 18 just before the full Senate was scheduled to vote on the nomination as it became clear that the governor's controversial choice was in danger of being rejected.

Ching, a longtime lobbyist for developers in Hawaii, drew widespread opposition from environmentalists and others who did not want to see the longtime lobbyist for Hawaii developers in charge of 1.3 million acres of state land, 750 miles of coastline, fisheries, reserves and other natural resources unique to Hawaii.

Members of the Senate Water and Land Committee had voted 5-2 against Ching's nomination after hearing from about 1,120 groups and people testifying against Ching and about 270 testifying in support.
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