HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.182 2024-2026From: Cory
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2025 9:24 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: support Res 234 Pohakuloa PCENRM aug 19
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support for Resolution 234 re. Pohakuloa
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for Policy Committee on Environmental and Natural Resource Management
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11 AM Tuesday, August 19, 2025, Kona chambers
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from Cory Harden
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Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll met with Governor Green twice last month, and Driscoll's team has been 4a6kingh
Green's team almost daily, seeking a way to retain Army lands.
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Hawai'i's Congresspeople seem supportive of land retention.
Driscoll wants a "conclusion' by early October. (1)
However, "...former BLNR Chair William Ail@ Jr. ...explained that only BLNR — and not the governor — has the authority to
sign any agreement for a land swap or trade" (1). Aila also said BLNR, having just rejected two Army EISs, is unlikely to
agree to anything by October.
Driscoll, for his part, said they're considering "a swap, land exchange or ... much more aggressive model". (1)
To me, that sounds like another Trump executive order —and then possible legal challenges, from someone other than
the State government.
So we need to speak up loud and clear.
There is plenty to speak up about. Kaho'olawe, left contaminated and hazardous. Kapukaki (Red Hill), where the Navy is
still dodging responsibility. Schofield, that put solvents and heavy metals into the aquifer. Pohakuloa, where two years ago
the Army sparked a fire that burned 27 square miles of forest and destroyed endangered species habitat. Makua, Kahuku,
and numerous old military sites that will take billions of dollars and too many years to restore.
Ethan Mckown, in a recent Star -Advertiser opinion piece, said the Army has "a long and ongoing record of environmental
destruction, cultural desecration, and dispossession in these islands" and that the
"military's claim to these lands ... is backed by force, funded by violence, and structured by a strategic logic that treats
Hawai'i not as a home, but as a platform for projection —of power, of readiness, of war." (2)
1-- Army chief vows to respect Hawaii culture and environment, but 60-day timeline is questioned, Honolulu Star
Advertiser, August 17, 2025
2-- The Army Is Not Our Neighbor, Ethan Mckown, Honolulu StarAdvertiser, August 3, 2025
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