The question has been asked again and again, in louder and more insistent voices every time, and still there's no clear answer.

Why hasn't the staffing shortage at the State Historic Preservation Division been solved?
[...]
It's created a problem of such alarming significance that Gov. Linda Lingle herself must make sure there's a plan for solving both the shorter-term backlog problem and the larger issue of a critical agency that has limped along for far too long.