UA Observatory Looses 10 Million in Funding:
Inferior Siting Cited
READ REPORT IN ARIZONA DAILY STAR
After nearly two decades of grassroots activism, the struggle to protect endangered species and native American sacred ground continues on Mt. Graham. The University of Arizona’s attempts to build telescopes atop this mountain have recently suffered major financial setbacks that leave the project badly in need of funds. Most noteably, $10,000,000 in federal funding slated for Mt. Graham have been vetoed by President Clinton.
Recently, the Clinton adminstration, recognizing Mt. Graham as an inferior observatory location stated, "Given that NASA is already investing in a superior capability... (Mauna Ka`au in Hawaii), NASA should not fund the Arizona project." President Clinton's statement verified what environmentalists have argued for years; Mt. Graham is an inferior site for astronomy.
Congressmen Kolbe protested the veto on the grounds there had been no environmental studies done at the Hawaii site. It was Kolbe who, in April 1996, added a one-sentence Mount Graham provision as a Congressional rider that allowed construction and cutting of old growth trees there to continue without court-orderd environmental studies.
With supporting politicians apparently loosing political pull, and funding running out for the telescopes, the University of Arizona finds itself scrambling. Reports are that the University is apparently seeking money from the National Science Foundation to bolster growing telescope construction costs.