Senate Minority Leader Kurt Fevella (District 19 – ‘Ewa Beach, Ocean Pointe, ‘Ewa by Gentry, Iroquois Point, portion of ‘Ewa Villages) is expressing his opposition to the U.S. Army’s draft Environmental Impact Statement and proposal to continue military training on and retaining up to 23,000 acres of State-owned land at the Pohakuloa Training Area, situated between the peaks of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawai‘i Island.
In an email addressed to Michael Donnelly, Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii & U.S. Army Installation, Senator Fevella points out that the present lease between the State and the U.S. government began in 1964 and is set to expire on August 16, 2029. The senator writes that “U.S. military control cannot continue indefinitely and the time has come to return these public lands at Pohakuloa to the State of Hawai‘i.” He also writes that the military already has jurisdiction over nearly 110,000 acres of adjacent federal-owned lands for training purposes.
“While I recognize the need to protect the United States’ efforts to use these islands for various military training, we also need to consider the health and safety of our people, land, air, and water quality that has continuously been negatively impacted by military training.” Senator Fevella writes that the continued military training on State lands has “long-lasting negative effects on the historical value of these Hawaiian Islands.”
He cites previous incidents of Hawaiian land desecration like the U.S. Navy bomb training on Kaho‘olawe, and the Kahuku Training Area, Kawailoa-Poamoho, and Makua Military Reservation, all on O‘ahu.
Senator Fevella writes that “it would be detrimental for Native Hawaiians, like myself, to stand idly by and relinquish claims to public lands … which we believe were taken without consent or proper compensation.
“I firmly believe,” the senator says, “the U.S. government must return the State-owned lands at Pohakuloa Training Area and provide the necessary funding for protection and restoration projects.”
