10-05-2025
BLNR denies U.S. Army's final EIS at Pōhakuloa Training Area
Pōhakuloa, Hawaii (KHON2) — The Board of Land and Natural Resources heard testimony for eight hours on Friday as it made a decision on the future of the Pōhakuloa Training Area on Hawaii Island.
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The BLNR decided to reject the U.S. Army's final environmental impact statement for it's live-fire training use of the 23,000 acres of state land.
There are four years left of the Army's 65-year lease, the military wanted to retain the land and to get a new lease, they have to go through an environmental review process.
Before the hearing began at 9 a.m., Chair Dawn Chang said this would be the most important decision the board has ever made.
Around 6:15 p.m. a decision was made.
Hawaii island's BLNR representative voted in favor of accepting the EIS saying he understood the concerns raised by the community and felt the Army had addressed short-comings identified in the EIS.
But BLNR member Kaiwi Yoon quickly said he didn't agree with that decision or the U.S. Army using the word warrior to describe the men in training.
'What we heard from the community is that we are exhausted and I hear that call and I bring this up because the fundamental question is, is live-fire good or bad for our cultural and natural resources? Yes or no? And the answer is clearly no, because there is no warrior that would say firing missiles and rockets is good for that cultural environment,' Yoon added.
The others said there were too many deficiencies in the Army's documents and comments were not adequetly addressed, and while the board believes the military is trying their best, the question at the end of the day was if the Army met all the EIS requirements.
'Based on my review of the document, and oral comments today, I do not feel its adequate, and I do not support the current motion,' Chair Chang said.
Hundreds of people showed up in person to testify on Friday, and over 1,300 pieces of testimony were submitted. It was standing room only and overflow as many expressed their opposition of approving the Army's final EIS at Pōhakuloa.
'This is not about approving a new lease, this is not about whether we like the military here in Hawaii, it's not about Red Hill and other military installations, we are here about three volumes of paper that sit on this desk,' said an Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands staff member during the hearing while pointing at three large binders of said the use of the land is inconsistent with the conservation district and state land use policy and noted other concerns. 'We had issues with known impacts on wildlife and birds, incompleteness of the archeological surveys, and those who were interviewed for the cultural impact assessment,' the OCCL staffer added.
Chair Chang told testifiers that if the BLNR was unable to make a decision, the EIS would be deemed accepted automatically.
Many who testified against accepting the EIS said the U.S. Army has shown time and time again that they have not been good caretakers of the land.
'This environmental review is missing key information including biological and cultural surveys, it ignores impacts to adjacent federal lands which is a clear requirement under state law, turns a blind eye to threats to endangered species, and the impacts to cultural resources and practices and aquifer contamination,' said Healani Sonoda-Pale, Ka Lahui Hawaii spokesperson.
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The U.S. Army's Final EIS can be found here.
The military says the land is an ideal location for national defense and security, and benefits multiple agencies.
'PTA is the only area in the region that allows this source of training,' explained Col. Rachel Sullivan, U.S. Army Garrison Commander. 'Training our forces for the higher standard of preparedness and safety, we have a responsibility top train our soldiers our nations youth who volunteered to be warriors.'
'Some of these assets are not available anywhere else in Hawaii or the pacific region,' Col. Sullivan added. 'PTA provides a critical training opportunity for the U.S. Army, Marines, Air Force, Army Reserve and National Guard.' She said state and county officials also utilize the area as well.
The Hawaii County Chamber of Commerce also supported the measure
Another testifier argued that due to lack of archeological surveys, it's unknown how many iwi are on the land. 'With the discoveries made in 2003 and April 2021, there are bound to be more,' the testifier said.
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James Maioho testified saying 'it is clear from the executive summary and what we've already heard this morning that there is a lack of content to the document and the process itself and this testimony you have enough to deny this EIS.'
The Army's lease is up in 2029. They can appeal the decision or file an action.
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