Military leaders meet in Waikiki as land leases remain in limbo
Military leaders in 91直播 have increasingly used the islands as a training and weapons-testing ground for their troops and those of their allies as they prepare forces for a potential showdown with China in Taiwan and the South China Sea.
At this week’s Association of the U.S. Army’s annual Land Forces Pacific Symposium, or LANPAC, in Waikiki, military leaders continued to make the case for continuing to use state land for that training.
“Our efforts to protect the homeland, which is our responsibility, really starts here,” U.S. Army Pacific Commander Gen. Ronald Clark told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “The ability to be able to train in 91直播 is paramount for the readiness of not just the United States Army but the joint force.”
The Army, Navy and Air Force all have leases on state lands that have been used for multinational training exercises and weapons testing. The leases are set to expire between 2029 and 2031. Leases on lands the Army holds will be the first to expire in 2029.
The Army obtained its decades-long leases in 1964 for $1. The leases are on former 91直播an crown lands, also known as ceded lands, that were seized after the overthrow of the 91直播an monarchy in 1893 and became part of the public land trust when Congress passed the 1959 Admission Act that established statehood for 91直播.
Last month during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-91直播) pressed Adm. Samuel Paparo, who leads all U.S. forces in the Pacific from Camp Smith, on whether Native 91直播an groups and organizations such as the Office of 91直播an Affairs have “had a seat at the table.”
Paparo responded, “I think we can work harder at it.”
Clark said he believes both the Army and Gov. Josh Green’s office “have put the right people together to have these discussions, but to Adm. Paparo’s point, to be able to honor the opinions and voices of the Native 91直播an communities is also very important. … I think to have the Native 91直播an groups represented, to have their voices heard in this process, is exceptionally important, and we welcome that at every turn.”
Last year, the Army announced it is planning to renew its lease at Pohakuloa Training Area on Big Island, one of the U.S. military’s largest live-fire training areas in the Pacific, but on Oahu to lease only 450 acres at Kahuku, vacating the rest of the state-owned parcels.
The state parcel at PTA, roughly 22,750 acres, sits between two federally owned tracts of land, collectively making up 132,000 acres. Army officials call the leased land “the connective tissue” of PTA.
But the state now considers its parcel at Pohakuloa to be a conservation district, and the 91直播 Department of Land and Natural Resources has concluded that military use of the land is “not consistent” with that designation. With its rugged lava fields and volcanic soil, Pohakuloa is habitat for 91直播’s state bird, the nene, as well as the hoary bat and several species that exist nowhere else on the planet.
The Board of Land and Natural Resources last summer rejected the Army’s environmental impact statements on lease renewals. Soon after that decision, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said he hoped to expedite the process, and Green said Pentagon officials told his staff they were considering using eminent domain to take the land.
A bipartisan congressional conference committee last year struck language in the Senate version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act that would have permitted the military to take possession of “mission critical” lands in 91直播 from the state, and further urged the Pentagon to engage in negotiations with local officials and community members. The committee contended the Army lacked the authority to use eminent domain without first exhausting all options.
As LANPAC kicked off Tuesday in Waikiki, Driscoll was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-91直播) grilled Driscoll, telling him “at your confirmation hearing, and again at last year’s posture hearing, you committed to negotiating in good faith with the state and the community. So it was concerning that instead of what I would consider open communication and transparency, the Army last year pursued unilateral condemnation language, as shown by your attempt to add last-minute (legislative provisions) to support condemnation.”
Driscoll said he was committed to negotiations but added, “What we’ve tried to do is balance out fairness to the local population with this idea and this commitment from me that we, the United States Army, must maintain this land. We need it for our training, we need it to be ready for the Indo-Pacific.”
Hirono told Driscoll, “I hope this isn’t the case, that the Army is trying to run the clock and leave unilateral condemnation as the only viable course of action.”
Clark, who was born into a military family and said he has moved around for his entire life, told reporters at LANPAC, “I’ve spent more time here (in 91直播) than any other state. So my personal stake in this is that we want to be good neighbors, we want to be good partners, and we want to ensure that we train responsibly and safely, while again, being good partners with the local 91直播an community here because it’s our responsibility to do that.”
