For 60 years, the U.S. Army has leased land on Oʻahu for military training for $1 a year. However, the leases at Mākua Valley, Kahuku and Poamoho are set to expire in 2029.
The details of a new lease for more than 6,000 acres of state land have been the subject of community meetings this month. Public feedback has been mostly negative.
The Conversation's intern Alyssa Salcedo spoke with Healani Sonoda-Pale, a Native Hawaiian activist who argues that the state leases should not be renewed.
"Hundreds of people have come out over the past three nights, and the overwhelming message they were sending every single night, with the exception of one or two, was literally telling the Army to clean up and get out," Sonoda-Pale told HPR at the community meeting.
"I think anybody who wants to raise their children here and put roots down here in Hawaiʻi, and who have roots here in Hawaiʻi, whether you're kānaka or not, you should be concerned about the military presence," Sonoda-Pale said.
The Conversation also talked to Army Col. Steven McGunegle, then-commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaiʻi, at the July 11 meeting.
"Land use in Hawaiʻi is always a difficult discussion. The community has very important perspectives. The military has needs to support training, and I've taken away that there's a lot of discussion still to go on to help bridge the gap between understanding what is the military training," he said.
"We say military training, and we know what that means in our head, but we can do a better job of explaining what that training is to the community, and then also highlighting some options for better cooperation."
The public has until Aug. 7 to comment on draft environmental impact statements for the land leases. For more information, click here.
This interview aired on The Conversation on July 25, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
