Some of my co-workers worked there

One of the funniest stories was that at the time, the AZ wildlife Dept. had a cook book out that in one chapter detailed how to best cook that 'endangered' squirrel:)

Scientific institutions tend to bear the brunt of radical protestors- we are high profile, and limited in our ability to fight legal battles- we are, after all, non profit organizations....

I can safely say that the observatories have done more to fund education and bring money to the island than just about any other employer on the island- but we still remain highly visible (The domes on the summit are visible from most of the island on a clear day) and relatively defenseless...

The annoying thing is some of the most active against the observatories are very definitely not in the least native- they have co-opted the Hawaiian's legitimate grievances just so they can be 'radicals' and get press...And what REALLY angers me is when people LIE about the issues to make their arguments- for instance a recent article in the local free paper talked about the environmental havoc the telescopes have wrought- It was so slanted that I was furious... It talked of the looming concrete domes of the telescopes (In reality I dont think any of the domes is concrete, since that is too heavy and also a thermally poor choice...) The reporter could have asked the observatories for their side, but found it simpler to just regurgitate the lies.

The article had many other innacuracies... it gave me new respect for what our Public Relations person has to deal with...

As for the wildfire- I wish them luck- about a year ago our Aussie friends had their mount Stromlo observatory wiped out by a fire- It set astronomy back a ways since they were building cutting edge instruments to be used on other telescopes- it really was a disaster- the instruments were destroyed... we are talking MILLIONS of dollars just for the instruments - the telescopes were even a greater loss- that must have been hell for the workers...

The Lick observatory is also vulnerable to fire, practically buried in a pine forest, When I was applying for my current job I spent a night at Lick, they have the other Laser guide star system, There had been a fire nearby that day- the smoke particles made the laser beam look like a solid object... It was amazing to see!

One advantage of being at 14000 feet is that not even grass grows up there- no danger of a wild fire unless Mauna Kea suddenly gets active again (HIGHLY unlikely in our lifetime)...

Wow- that was a ramble