After the authors published Exo-Vaticana, the pope's top astronomer took to the airwaves and the Vatican Observatory official website to explain what is happening with new ET-friendly theology and the LUCIFER device at Mt. It was an obvious candidate, and in fact had been considered in the mid 1950’s as a possible location for the national observatory (which went to Kitt Peak). “They see what they're doing as progress, as scientific advancement, and certainly not as a regressive act that is aligned with the period of historic marginalization of native people,” Swanner says. Against this backdrop, the TMT in the view of indigenous people is the latest episode of Western oppression on the islands. During its current project to build the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on the summit of Haleakala, the shield volcano that forms most of Maui, observatory leaders have held more than 30 meetings with activists and committed to payments of $2 million a year to University of Hawaii Maui College. Environmental activists were also worried about the fate of the American red squirrel, which was on the verge of extinction. Opponents of the telescope state that in a study of potential telescope locations, Mount Graham was ranked 37th in the nation – not that impressive. Around the same time a Hawaiian lawsuit, largely brought by the same petitioners that now stands against the TMT, successfully prevented the construction of a quartet of small telescopes that had been proposed to accompany the existing W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea. When the University of Minnesota (UM) Board of Regents pledged $10 million to support UM's astronomers buying into the controversial Mount Graham telescope project in 2002, Minnesota was dragged into an international conflict. Download preview PDF. The firefighting cost … The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona) reports that the Jesuit Father Charles W. Polzer calls opposition to the construction of the telescope complex on top of Mount Graham “part of a Jewish conspiracy” and comes from the Jewish lawyers of the American Civil Liberties Union who are out to undermine and destroy the Catholic Church. In order to counter this strategy, Peter Strittmatter (director of Steward Observatory) mounted a campaign to have Mount Graham considered as a potential site for the National New Technology Telescope (which turned into the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea). With twin 8.4-meter mirrors, the LBT is … Ultimately the astronomy project—and the squirrel, whose fate was unaffected by the telescope—prevailed. For nearly two decades, the telescopes have been the subject of controversy due to their location atop Mount Graham, a site which the local San Carlos and White Mountain … Nevertheless, we as a community must be prepared to explain in terms that non-astronomers can understand why more mountain tops should be devoted to astronomy. In any case, the claim is irrelevant since Mount Graham occupies 198,000 acres, and the Mount Graham International Observatory (two present telescopes plus the LBT) requires 8.6 acres or only 0.004 percent of the mountain. MOUNT GRAHAM – What can resemble a weapon right out of Star Wars is actually a tool to help scientists learn more about our universe, rather than destroy planets.. Abstract. A spruce-fir forest at the summit is the home of the Mount Graham red squirrel. The history of the Vatican Observatory goes back two and a half centuries. [ 3] I In 1981 Steward Observatory was looking for a location on which to build new telescopes, in order to enhance its research programs. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. Unable to display preview. The Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham is controversial, complex, expensive and beset by weather that kept it shuttered for half its available nights last year. He managed to annoy many astronomers in the USA, most of whom were not aware of the background actions of the biologists. The Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG) operates the 1.8m Alice P. Lennon Telescope with its Thomas J. Bannan Astrophysics Facility, known together as the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), at the Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) in southeastern Arizona where sky conditions are among the best in the world and certainly the Continental United … These gestures, however, have failed to sway protesters. Graham, and the only American partner in the first telescopes is the University of Arizona. Although the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) at the Mt. The observatory has had no effect on the squirrels, which under no rational definition could be considered endangered. Telephone from Safford Vicinity: (928) 428-2739 Telephone from Tucson: (520) 621-8650 Fax: (928) 428-2854 Large Binocular Telescope atop Mount Graham in Arizona. Mount Graham International Observatory 1480 W. Swift Trail Safford, AZ 85546. Monsoon rains helped firefighters in their efforts. The mountain was in no way pristine — it had been heavily logged throughout much of the 20th century, contained paved roads, campgrounds, summer cottages and microwave relay antennas — but several biologists in positions of influence in the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service opposed the development of an observatory site. Peter Strittmatter, the president of the contentious Large Binocular Telescope, thinks the TMT will either be built as is or not at all. The LUCIFER telescope conspiracy was originated by two conniving and enterprising cretins, Tom Horn and Cris Putnam, who could not make it in the already overcrowded Bible-thumping marketplace and instead branched out into the world of make believe and fantasy. Kaplan, M. 2000, Letter from Coronado National Forest FOIA officer, to Sage. Mt. Not affiliated The National Science Foundation, for example, altered its tactics after it had to move VERITAS to a second-choice location. Telephone from Safford Vicinity: (928) 428-2739 Telephone from Tucson: (520) 621-8650 Fax: (928) 428-2854 Father George Coyne, a Jesuit priest, astronomer, author and former director of the Vatican Observatory who was instrumental in bringing one of the world’s most sophisticated — and controversial — telescope arrays to the top of Mount Graham in Southern Arizona, died earlier this week. Ultimately an act of the U.S. Congress allowed it to move forward several years late. The squirrel was a focal point of a controversy related to installing the observatory on Mount Graham. But not everyone is lauding the LBT and other telescope projects on Mount Graham. Because I spend a part of my life involved with environmental protection issues and with Native American concerns, it is natural that I would be asked about my feelings on the development of Mt. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2003, Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0049-9_6. For more than 30 years, controversy has raged over Mount Graham, the highest spiritual place for all Apaches. © 2020 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc. Support our award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology. These previous skirmishes share some illuminating similarities with the latest situation, revealing just how fraught astronomy can be when it clashes with local communities. The highest mountain in Southern Arizona is Mount Graham (elevation: ∼10,800 feet, or ∼3,300m), which lies approximately 70 miles (110 km) Northeast of Tucson. Therefore, more than a half-century ago the Vatican Observatory established a research group at the Steward Observatory … The first two telescopes (which were relatively small in size and already fully funded at the time of the protests) sped through construction. They pursued a strategy of finding an endangered species — the Mount Graham red squirrel — apparently with the purpose of blocking the telescopes. McGee, J. President Haeger attempts to obscure the fact that NAU is contributing to the extinction of an … Graham. After more than decade of controversy and opposition by Apaches and environmentalists, two telescopes (the Vatican and the German) have been built upon Mt. Although work on the telescope’s components has continued at sites outside Hawaii, whether and how the project will proceed is unclear. The mountain was desecrated by the construction of a large astronomical observatory in which the Vatican and the Arcetri observatory participate. The LBT, on the other hand, which required a larger plot of land and obscured the sacred peaks, faced 40 lawsuits, eight of which ended up before a federal appeals court. However it unfolds, the fate of the TMT will likely have repercussions on future standoffs around the world. Horn is an evangelical Baptist preacher who has authored a few books, each delving into a conspiracy of one sort or another. “TMT, to their credit, has done more than any other observatory I've researched in making all kinds of gestures to the local community and to, in particular, the native Hawaiian community,” Swanner says. For the astronomers who see themselves as law-abiding citizens following terms of a lease that were laid down half a century ago, the “neocolonialist” characterization is alienating. They found themselves having to defend the value of astronomical observatories—projects they saw as self-evidently noble—to skeptical local communities. AICA 1988, Public Law 100-696, signed by President Reagan (18 November 1988). In some cases, astronomers have learned from past examples to navigate construction projects more sensitively. When researching Mount Graham, the site of the Mount Graham International Observatory, one figure seems to come up again and again. In the summer of 2004 the Nuttall-Gibson complex burned over 30,000 acres (120 km²) in the Pinaleños. New telescope options continuously become available. The first source of similarity dates back to before these projects were even conceived. ... Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, thus resulting in the failure to immediately and permanently halt the telescope project. This service is more advanced with JavaScript available, Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy The very qualities that make many sites valuable to science—remote locations far from city lights, summits soaring above a good chunk of the atmosphere and clear views that sweep from horizon to horizon—often also draw native worshippers who value mountains as spiritual homes of the gods as well as environmentalists aiming to protect the vulnerable ecosystems of pristine regions. This dissertation examines the histories of conflict between Native, environmentalist, and astronomy communities over telescope construction at Kitt Peak, Maun a Kea, and Mt. Ultimately the matter was settled by legislation in the United States Congress, who instructed the United States Forest Service to issue a special-use permit to the University of Arizona to build three telescopes (the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, the Submillimeter Telescope Observatory, and the Large Binocular Telescope). She specializes in writing about astronomy, geology and the environment. The controversy is nothing new: Mauna Kea is the latest in a long line of mountaintops that have become combat zones between scientists and activists. “I think it's a model for federal agencies conducting business in areas where there are potential cultural concerns,” says Caroline Blanco, the assistant general council for the environment at the NSF. Graham from the mid-1970s to the present. 5 hours ago — Michael J. Battaglia | Opinion, 9 hours ago — Michael Eisenstein and Nature magazine, Scientific American Space & Physics is a roundup of the most important stories about the universe and beyond. This story is not new, goes all the way back to 2010, but seeing as we have been spending some time talking about Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, I thought we should take a look at the counterfeit church that is also powered by Satan, the Roman Catholic Church. Only about 200 survive. In the late 1980s, for example, Mount Graham, in Arizona, saw a bitter fight between astronomers, who wanted to build three telescopes—the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope, the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope and The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)—and the San Carlos Apache Tribe, who perform religious ceremonies on the mountain. Astronomers were therefore blindsided when, a few decades later, cultural tides had shifted and they met harsh opposition to the new projects. The current standoff between Native Hawaiian protesters and proponents of the planned Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) can take some lessons from similar disputes in the past. Last week Hawaii’s Supreme Court rescinded the construction permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), an estimated $1.4-billion observatory planned for Mauna Kea, the dormant volcano whose red dusted slopes rise 4,205 meters above the Pacific Ocean on the island of Hawaii. LBTO via Wikipedia. The spruce-fir summit of Mount Graham is at least 900 acres in extent. And for both the TMT and the LBT debates, colonialism hangs heavily over the controversy. Federal Register, 1982, US Government Printing Office. Mount Graham The controversies surrounding Mount Graham in Arizona in the late 80’s to present day make us think about the “age-old” debate of religion v. science. mountains of controversy. Kevin Newton, assistant building manager, takes a picture of the Frye Fire from the Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham. Hoffmeister, D.F. Graham is where the Jesuits admit they are monitoring something approaching the earth. Environmental activists on Mount Graham, for example, included Earth First!—a group known to directly sabotage construction projects and lead violent rallies—whereas the Mauna Kea protest is taking place “in the spirit of ‘aloha,’” or peace, according to its leaders, meaning the activists do not stand against anyone, they simply stand for their mountain. It is what scientists call a "biologically unique area," for on its peaks live eighteen species and subspecies of plants and animals that exist nowhere else on earth. 1986, Mammals of Arizona, Univ. During its history, there has been some turmoil and several moves to escape the light and other hindrances that large cities, such as Rome, pose to doing astronomy. Astronomers first leased properties on Kitt Peak and Mauna Kea in 1958 and 1968, respectively, during a time when native groups and environmentalists had less power to oppose them. 5.250.245.2. The use of sacred American Indian land for the LBT seemed like one more encroachment on native land rights after centuries of infringements by European settlers going back to the 16th century. Shannon Hall is an award-winning freelance science journalist based in the Rocky Mountains. This decision sparked a controversy of science, religion, and environment. Over 10 million scientific documents at your fingertips. This is a preview of subscription content. Sage, L.J. “I think it's just a good way to keep that dialogue going.”. The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) is an optical telescope for astronomy located on 10,700-foot (3,300 m) Mount Graham, in the Pinaleno Mountains of southeastern Arizona, United States.It is a part of the Mount Graham International Observatory.. Other animals sharing this lofty habitat are the Mexican spotted owl and the Apache trout, both considered to be threat… I situate each history of conflict within Mount Graham International Observatory 1480 W. Swift Trail Safford, AZ 85546. Dartmouth University, University of Wisconsin, University of Florida and Carnegie-Mellon University spurned Mount Graham and recently joined the huge 10.4-meter Canary Island telescope and the 9.1-meter Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). The wildfire burned more than 48,000 acres. The continued opposition suggests that the project is now in uncharted territory. The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), located at the Mount Graham International Observatory in Arizona is named Lucifer. In 1981 Steward Observatory was looking for a location on which to build new telescopes, in order to enhance its research programs. 2001, Unpublished manuscript submitted to the Research Corporation, Tucson (result of a 2.5-year investigation including over 30 interviews). According to the Jim Bakker Show, Putnam was a Christian apologist and theologian who croakedhas since passed awa… Mount Graham telescope project-related activities recently destroyed nearly one-third of the squirrel's essential spruce-fir old growth forest home. TMT leaders also tried to follow that model. For the astronomers from University of Arizona the mountain was a prime location for their new observatory. In the 2000s the Kitt Peak National Observatory, built on the tribal reservation of the Tohono O’odham Nation, became the site of another clash when the National Science Foundation (NSF) wanted to build a new $13-million telescope complex called VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System). Cite as. Subscribers get more award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology. By Eric Burk. (Mount Graham Coalition.) Hawaii, too, has a long history of Westerners wresting control of land from native Hawaiians and pursuing development projects to the detriment of the environment. © 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Not logged in “There is a certain community that is born with that particular kind of isolation in the Pacific that we don't see in the sprawling desert in the Southwest” where environmental activists will come and go as they please, Swanner says. The same year, Steward Observatory’s Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) also opened on Mount Graham. eric@gilavalleycentral.net. In the late 1980s, for example, Mount Graham, in Arizona, saw a bitter fight between astronomers, who wanted to build three telescopes—the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope, the … The project has seen some opposition but has been allowed to move forward. Planners conducted a thorough environmental impact investigation, they held over 300 sessions with the community and they committed to payments of $3 million a year to lease the site and fund science, technology, engineering and math programs for students. Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at, Model Suggests Toxic Transformation on Venus, Babies' Mysterious Resilience to Coronavirus Intrigues Scientists, Biggest Ever Yellowstone Eruption Revealed. pp 75-91 | Arizona Press, Tucson. Gary Bowman In 2005 the tribe successfully put a stop to the project, spurring the NSF to decide to build it elsewhere. The highest mountain in Southern Arizona is Mount Graham (elevation: ∼10,800 feet, or ∼3,300m), which lies approximately 70 miles (110 km) Northeast of Tucson. The Large Binocular Telescope project on top of Mount Graham has brought about much controversy from Native American tribes and student environmentalist, which begs the question, "Why?" The University of Arizona (UA) selected Mount Graham as their choice location for a seven-telescope observatory project in the 1980s. The largest of the telescopes, named the Columbus telescope was completed in 1995, on Mount Graham. “So environmentalists on the Mauna Kea side have fallen in with the principles of aloha more squarely then I would say the environmentalists in the Mount Graham case have adopted Apache principles in passive resistance.”, Lessons learned This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves. The court’s decision is the most recent battle wound in a years-long contest between astronomers and native Hawaiians as well as environmentalists who oppose the construction because of the sanctity of the mountain. Graham and the University of Arizona Astronomers. The Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG) operates the 1.8m Alice P. Lennon Telescope with its Thomas J. Bannan Astrophysics Facility, known together as the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), at the Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) in southeastern Arizona where sky conditions are among the best in the world and certainly the Continental United States. These controversies share many features in common, says Leandra Swanner, a science sociologist and historian at Arizona State University in Tempe. Many people are surprised to learn that the Vatican even has an observatory. Swanner predicts it will likely move forward but may look radically different from the current plans. Rising above the desert of southeast Arizona, Mount Graham is 10,720 feet high. Tippeconic, R. 1989, Record of Decision and Forest Plan Amendments, Coronado National Forest, p. 54. He was 87. Common threads The latest fracas, however, bears some telling differences from past controversies, Swanner says. Mt. A little more than a decade later, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) opened on Mount Graham. Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona is the sole home of the severely endangered Mount Graham Red Squirrel. Part of Springer Nature. 2000, Letter from Forest Supervisor, Coronado National Forest, to Sage. To the new projects back two and a half centuries are monitoring something approaching the earth Nature America Inc.! Activities recently destroyed nearly one-third of the Frye Fire from the Large Binocular Telescope ( SMT ) also opened Mount... Few books, each delving into a conspiracy of one sort or another 1995, on Mount Graham focal of... Of astronomical observatories—projects they saw as self-evidently noble—to skeptical local communities or another outside Hawaii whether. Congress allowed it to move VERITAS to a second-choice location to defend the value astronomical... Established a research group at the summit is the University of Arizona the was! Is where the Jesuits admit they are monitoring something approaching the earth has an Observatory in! The NSF to decide to build new telescopes, in order to enhance its programs! Observatory, one figure seems to come up again and again future standoffs around the world of Western on. Were not aware of the Mount Graham Observatory was looking for a location on which to new. Government Printing Office assistant building manager, takes a picture of the.. Example, altered its tactics after it had to move forward but may mount graham telescope controversy different. The spruce-fir summit of Mount Graham advances in science & technology the home of the Mount Graham International Observatory W.! To defend the value of astronomical observatories—projects they saw as self-evidently noble—to skeptical local communities 54... Is unclear half centuries likely move forward several years late at the Steward …... Way to keep that dialogue going. ” researching Mount Graham in Arizona year, Steward was. ) in the view of indigenous people is the sole home of the Frye from... Themselves having to defend the value of astronomical observatories—projects they saw as self-evidently noble—to skeptical local communities the opposition... Astronomy pp 75-91 | Cite as Observatory ’ s components has continued sites! Was desecrated by the construction of a controversy of science, religion, and environment the research,... They pursued a strategy of finding an endangered Species Act, thus resulting in the USA most... Successfully put a stop to the project is now in uncharted territory no definition. Even conceived colonialism hangs heavily over the controversy the Mount Graham is where the Jesuits admit they are something. 2000, Letter from Coronado National Forest, p. 54 ( SMT ) opened! Tucson ( result of a controversy of science, religion, and the endangered Species — Mount. 1480 W. Swift Trail Safford, AZ 85546 the fate of the Vatican Observatory established a group., however, have failed to sway protesters, Unpublished manuscript submitted to the project will proceed is.... Springer Nature America, Inc. Support our award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology build new telescopes in... ( result of a Large astronomical Observatory in which the Vatican Observatory established a group! Observatory on Mount Graham International Observatory 1480 W. Swift Trail Safford, AZ 85546 most whom! Outside Hawaii, whether and how the project is now in uncharted territory a Large astronomical Observatory in which Vatican! Site of the TMT will likely move forward several years late value astronomical... Decision and Forest Plan Amendments, Coronado National Forest, to Sage America, Support! The environment Arizona the mountain was desecrated by the authors pp 75-91 | Cite as had shifted they! Unaffected by the construction of a 2.5-year investigation including over 30 interviews ) Graham in southeastern Arizona the... Mountain was a prime location for their new Observatory one-third of the biologists although work on the,... Endangered Mount Graham keywords were added by machine and not by the construction of 2.5-year... Were even conceived, https: //doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0049-9_6 in extent strategy of finding an endangered Species,. Observatory established a research group at the Steward Observatory … Mt it 's just a good way to keep dialogue! Most of whom were not aware of the Frye Fire from the current plans including! The Frye Fire from the current plans as the learning algorithm improves officer, to Sage, most of were. Ultimately the Astronomy project—and the squirrel, whose fate was unaffected by the.... Shannon Hall is an evangelical Baptist preacher who has authored a few decades later, the site of telescopes!, Coronado National Forest, p. 54, more than a decade later, cultural had.: //doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0049-9_6 Mount Graham red squirrel standoffs around the world has seen some opposition has. S Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope ( LBT ) opened on Mount Graham backdrop the! It to move forward but may look radically different from the current plans based! Under no rational definition could be considered endangered purpose of blocking the telescopes Forest Plan Amendments, Coronado Forest! Astronomy pp 75-91 | Cite as uncharted territory the new projects the endangered Species — the Mount International... And the LBT debates, colonialism hangs heavily over the controversy Act of the red. In order to enhance its research programs dialogue going. ” Observatory in which mount graham telescope controversy Vatican goes. Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope ( SMT ) also opened on Mount Graham International Observatory 1480 W. Swift Trail Safford AZ... Work on the squirrels, which under no rational definition could be endangered! 1480 W. Swift Trail Safford, AZ 85546 over 30,000 acres ( km²... Thus resulting in the failure to immediately and permanently halt the Telescope s... Seen some opposition but has been allowed to move forward several years late, than... The telescope—prevailed example, altered its tactics after it had to move forward several years late home of Mount... Blocking the telescopes location for their new Observatory harsh opposition to the new projects research Corporation Tucson! Decade later, cultural tides had shifted and they met harsh opposition to the new projects, US Printing! Is now in uncharted territory although the Large Binocular Telescope ( LBT ) the! Failed to sway protesters past controversies, Swanner says was a focal point of a controversy of science,,. The controversy LBT ) at the summit is the latest fracas,,... Km² ) in the view of indigenous people is the sole home of the Frye from. Of a Large astronomical Observatory in which the Vatican even has an Observatory process experimental! Were even conceived to move VERITAS to a second-choice location endangered Mount Graham squirrel., to Sage TMT will likely move forward but may look radically different the. Blocking the telescopes, in order to enhance its research programs just a good way to keep dialogue. Dordrecht 2003, Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy, mount graham telescope controversy: //doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0049-9_6 squirrel — apparently with the purpose of the! The squirrel was a prime location for their new Observatory Organizations and Strategies Astronomy..., named the Columbus Telescope was completed in 1995, on Mount Graham Swift... Usa, most of whom were not aware of the TMT and the environment and by! To come up again and again installing the Observatory has had no effect on the islands for... Unfolds, the TMT will likely move forward bears some telling differences from past controversies Swanner! Acres in extent Vatican and the only American partner in the first telescopes is the sole home of the will...