Native Hawaiian Cultural Practitioners Challenge Land Management Plan

In Hawaii, a group of Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners, conservationists and others have filed suit in state court seeking to force the state's Board of Land and Natural Resources to grant them a hearing to challenge the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan that was adopted in April. Big Island Video News reported Friday that the lawsuit claims Hawaiian law has recognized the role of Native Hawaiians in protecting natural and cultural resources. Plaintiffs argue that Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano, is a religious temple, human burial ground, and a site for the study of traditional Hawaiian techniques in navigation and astronomy.