The Hawaiʻi County Council has passed a resolution signaling that it wants to end the military’s presence at the Pōhakuloa Training Area — or at least task the military with taking better care of the land.
The Army is nearing the end of a 65-year lease for about 23,000 acres of state land that it uses for military training. Army officials are in the process of renewing that lease to continue training exercises there.
However, waves of testimony on the resolution have been critical of the military, saying its actions have desecrated natural and cultural resources at Pōhakuloa.
"They'll hold on to all of these training spaces because who else would welcome the military and all of their destruction anywhere else?" said Pua Case, a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, at a Wednesday council meeting.
"They're on a relatively isolated land mass where they can experiment, contaminate, destroy, do massive irreparable damage, promise cultural protections and commitments that — as they've proven — they really don't have to keep."
The resolution urges the state to ask the Army to stop live-fire training exercises at PTA, and wants the state to reject land swaps and lease renewals unless the military agrees to cleanup and restoration efforts.
The council's resolution also calls for a survey of the area to ensure that military activity isn’t detrimental to Native Hawaiian traditions and practices.
While the state is leasing about 23,000 acres to the military, PTA as a whole is more than 130,000 acres in size.
Councilmember Ashley Kierkiewicz said the resolution allows the public and the council to speak on the matter and call on the military to take action.
“It's not just about asking the military to acknowledge the hurt and the harm done; it's about demanding action. It sends a very clear message that we will not continue to accept the status quo,” she said.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources recently rejected the Army’s environmental impact statement as part of its lease renewal process. Opponents of the environmental review said the Army didn’t properly assess the impacts it would have on the land.
Gov. Josh Green and Army leaders continue discussions on a deal to let the military training continue in some way at PTA.
