Melanie Chinen, the embattled head of the state Historic Preservation Division, is resigning effective Dec. 7, citing the physical toll the job has taken on her and the emotional strain on her family from job-related controversy and litigation.

The Society for Hawaiian Archaeology earlier this year voted to seek the removal of Chinen from the agency due to a history of staffing and other problems at the agency during Chinen's tenure. The society contends a lack of staff and other problems made it impossible to properly protect historic and archaeological sites.

An organization called Friends of the Burial Sites Program that includes Hawaiian cultural practitioners and Hawaiians working to protect burial sites has also lobbied Board of Land and Natural Resources Chairwoman Laura H. Thielen to have Chinen removed.

That group held a news conference this year to call attention to problems within the agency, including complaints that Hawaiian remains have been unearthed to make way for developments around the state, but have not been properly reburied.

Earlier this month former state archaeologist David Brown filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging his contract was not renewed by the state Historic Preservation Division because of his opinions on "illegal, unethical or culturally insensitive" activities at the division.
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Tom Dye, president of the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology and an outspoken critic of the way the division has been run in recent years, said his organization is "obviously pleased" at the announcement, adding that "we wish her well."

Dye predicted it will now be much easier for the agency to recruit qualified archaeologists. "Our membership has believed for a long time that one of the main problems was the leadership at SHPD," he said.

Thielen said she will ask a search committee to look for a new administrator who is a strategic planner, good communicator and creative thinker, who is "devoted to the mission" of historic preservation and who can "help us work through a healing process." She will also ask for three new positions, two clerks to help professionals with degrees with paperwork, and a high-tech librarian position, to improve information available on the Web site.