As the state and the U.S. Army continue to negotiate over the fate of military-leased lands throughout the state, Gov. Josh Green announced Thursday he's put together a committee to advise him on the matter.
The Army leases about 30,000 acres of state land on O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Island — about 23,000 acres for the Pōhakuloa Training Area on Hawai‘i Island and a total of just over 6,000 acres for the Kahuku Training Area, Kawailoa-Poamoho Training Area and Mākua Military Reservation on O‘ahu. Those leases are scheduled to end in 2029, and the Army has been making efforts this year to extend the leases into the 2030s and beyond.
Those efforts have not been going well. Earlier this year, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources rejected the Army's environmental impact statements for their plans to renew their leases. At the time, BLNR chair Dawn Chang said it would be difficult for the Army to get through the regulatory and permitting process for the lease renewals before the 2029 deadline.
Therefore, the Army has changed tactics. According to an announcement by Gov. Josh Green's office on Thursday, the Army's strategy for retaining the land "will possibly move toward condemnation."
Condemnation is the process by which a government agency carries out its right to seize land for public use; that right is referred to as "eminent domain."
Green announced Thursday that “the offices of the U.S. Army Secretary and the U.S. Department of Justice have begun consultations on the Army’s legal right of condemnation” for the training lands. He added that he submitted a proposal to U.S. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll on Oct. 29 outlining the state’s priorities for the land.
Those state priorities included environmental remediation of the land, increased access for cultural and community organizations and federal investment in local infrastructure.
This follows a “statement of principles” Green and Driscoll released in September, which Green called a non-binding framework for future negotiations. Said principles state that Hawai‘i and the Army will discuss options to return land to the state, methods to improve the Army’s land stewardship and clear unexploded ordnance, federal support for housing and infrastructure, and the state’s vital role in national security.
And to guide the state through negotiations with the Army, Green appointed 10 people to serve on an advisory committee. Those appointees include:
• William “Bill” Ailā Jr., former chair of the Hawaiian Homes Commission
• Scott Glenn, advisor to the governor
• Ryan Kanaka‘ole, deputy director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources
• Kūhiō Lewis, CEO of the Hawaiian Council
• Lauri McAllister Moore, executive director of the state Military and Community Relations Office
• Mahina Paishon-Duarte, entrepreneur
• Ed Sniffen, director of the State Department of Transportation
• Summer Sylva, interim administrator for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs
• Kali Watson, director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
• Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, executive director of cultural advocacy nonprofit Lālākea Foundation
Said appointees are unpaid volunteers and will “provide guidance to [Green] on a path forward that will deliver immediate and long-term benefits that reflect the true environmental and cultural costs of continued federal use of our lands,” according to Green’s announcement.
Green’s announcement also provided a link to an online form here, where the public can provide input at any time.
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