HONOLULU (KHON2) — The state’s land board rejected the U.S. Army’s extension of its lease of the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island, leaving the future of the military’s training in Hawaiʻi unclear.
State Senator Glenn Wakai says that if the military is not able to use the lands for training such as live fire exercises.
“America needs to be ready, and the frontline for America is Hawaiʻi,” Wakai said. “America’s military readiness is going to be hampered because they’re not able to do live fire exercises anywhere in the state of Hawaiʻi.”
Wakai warns that the consequences of the military not having access to Pohakuloa Training Area, Kahuku, Makua and Poamoho for training won’t just be a national security issue, but an economic one as well.
“In light of [the military] being the third largest economic driver, after tourism and real estate, the military is a significant player here,” the senator said. “We need to do whatever we can to accommodate their needs, but not, of course, jeopardizing our environmental factors as well.”
The Board of Land and Natural Resources’ rejection of the military’s lease extension was not out of left field, with the military having a spotty history in Hawaiʻi’s ʻāina.
“I think what the problem with the military has been is that they haven’t always been the perfect environmental stewards of our lands,” Wakai said. “They have not cleaned up Kahoʻolawe. They had a disastrous catastrophe with red hill.”
The military used the island of Kahoʻolawe for bomb testing in the 1940s, with decades of military activity taking place on the sacred island. Military bombing of the island stopped in the 1990s.
The island still has ordnances, with efforts to clean up the land ongoing.
In addition to the military activity on Kahoʻolawe, the military only paid $1 annually on the 65-year lease agreement, leaving a poor taste in everyone’s mouth.
“The military only paid us $1 a year. That needs to change,” Wakai said. “They need to pay fair market value for whatever lease agreement is reestablished. They got away with it for, almost free, for 65 years.”
The BLNR Chair Dawn Chang says the Army can appeal the board’s decision or file a lawsuit. The board will consider a lease extension for Kahuku, Makua and Poamoho in June, Chang said.
The Army’s land leases on Pohakuloa Training Area, Kahuku, Makua and Poamoho are currently set to expire in 2029.