[1] The Astronomy Precinct was established in 1967 and is located on land protected by the Historical Preservation Act for its significance to Hawaiian culture.

The presence and continued construction of telescopes is highly controversial due to Mauna Kea's centrality in native Hawaiian religion and culture, as well as for a variety of environmental reasons.

He persuaded Hawaiʻi Governor John A. Burns to bulldoze a dirt road to the summit where he built a small telescope on Puʻu Poliʻahu, a cinder cone peak.

[3][10] Kuiper would abandon his site (the very first telescope on Mauna Kea) over the competition and begin work in Arizona on a different NASA project.

Testing also determined Mauna Kea to be superb for nighttime viewing due to many factors, including the thin air, constant trade winds and being surrounded by sea.

In January 1982, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents approved a plan to support the continued development of scientific facilities at the site.

This plan was further revised to address concern expressed in the Hawaiian community that a lack of respect was being shown toward the cultural value the mountain embodied to the region's indigenous people.

It is one of the world's premier observatories for optical, infrared, and submillimeter astronomy, and in 2009 was the largest measured by light gathering power.

[23] The University of Hawaiʻi manages the site[23] and leases land to several multi-national facilities, which have invested more than $2 billion in science and technology.

The altitude and isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes Mauna Kea one of the best locations on Earth for ground-based astronomy.

Accommodations for research astronomers are located at the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy (often called Hale Pōhaku), 7 miles (11 km) by unpaved steep road from the summit at 9,300 feet (2,800 m) above sea level.

[28] In Honolulu, the governor and legislature, enthusiastic about the development, set aside an even larger area for the observatory after the initial project, causing opposition on the Big Island, in the city of Hilo.

Native Hawaiians (kānaka ʻōiwi) believed the entire site was sacred and that developing the mountain, even for science, would spoil the area.

Using town hall meetings, Jefferies was able to overcome opposition by weighing the economic advantage and prestige the island would receive.

Once access was opened up by the roadway to the summit, skiers began using it for recreation and objected when the road was closed as a precaution against vandalism when the telescopes were being built.

[7]: 56 The Audubon Society objected to further development on Mauna Kea over concerns to habitat of the endangered Palila, a species endemic to only specific parts of this mountain.

[31] A "Save Mauna Kea" movement was inspired by the proliferation of telescopes, with opposition believing development of the mountain to be sacrilegious.

[33] The land is protected by the United States Historical Preservation Act due to its significance to Hawaiian culture, but still allowed development.