HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.213 2024-2026Sent: Monday, August 18, 2025 11:58 AM
To: Ikualono Jackson (2026)
Cc: Council Testimony
Subject: RE: Board of Land and Natural Resources RE: REJECT the Army's Final Environmental
Impact Statement
COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF NAalII
RECEIVED
Time i f:5S WK. BY
Date AUG 1 8 2025
From: lkualono Jackson (2026)
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2025 11:45 AM
To: Council Remote Testimony <councilremotetestimony@hawaiicounty.gov>
Subject: TO: Board of Land and Natural Resources RE: REJECT the Army's Final Environmental Impact Statement
Aloha kakou,
My name is Ikualono, and I am a Kanaka Maoli. I am
submitting this testimony in strong opposition to the Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) for the proposed renewal of military leases on Hawaiian lands. I also call
for an immediate and permanent end to all negotiations regarding renewing these leases, which
are set to expire in 2029.
The history of these lands cannot be ignored. In 1964, the State of Hawaii leased over 29,000
acres of public lands, many of them so-called "ceded lands," to the U.S. military for the
outrageous sum of $1 per year. This decision enabled the military to conduct destructive live -fire
exercises, destroy sacred lands, and leave behind unexploded ordnance and depleted uranium.
Places like Makua Valley, Pohakuloa, Kahuku, Kawailoa, Puuloa (Pearl Harbor) and Kapukaki
(Red Hill) have suffered environmental degradation and cultural harm for nearly seven decades,
all under the guise of "national defense." But as the late George Helm, revered Hawaiian leader
and martyr, once asked: "What is national defense when what is being destroyed is the very thing the military
is entrusted to defend?'
This is not about negotiating a better deal. There is no amount of money that can justify the
continued desecration of aina. These lands are not vacant training grounds, they are sacred,
storied, and irreplaceable. The damage already inflicted is already extensive and irreversible in
many areas. Renewing these leases sends a clear message to the people of Hawaii: that y�
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v military power outweighs cultural survival, environmental justice, and Native Hawaiian rights.
The FEIS itself fails to meaningfully address the cumulative harms, historical trauma, and
cultural impacts of military occupation. Public trust has eroded due to the military's poor
stewardship, broken promises, and lack of accountability. There is no path forward that begins
with more bombs and ends with healing.
We cannot afford to play this "game" again. The people of Hawai'i hold the stronger hand now,
and it is our kuleana to act with courage and clarity. Like Kaho'olawe before it, these lands must
be returned to the people and to the earth. Enough is enough.
I urge the Board of Land and Natural Resources and Governor Green to honor their
commitments to fri'ture-gene""rations and reject the FEIS in full. End all negotiations. Restore the
aina. Return what g�nep r Seely given.
LH SIIS%
E mau ke ea URa airia i ka pono--
Me ke aloha aina,oia io,_
Ikualono Jackson