HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.325 2024-2026From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
August 17, 2025
Ka'ale Niau
Sunday, August 17, 2025 6:51 PM
Council Testimony
Re: Strong Support of Resolution 234-25
Re: Strong Support of Resolution 234-25 Urging the state of Hawaii to ensure the health and safety of Hawai'i island
residents by requesting the military to cease all bombing and desecration activities at the Pohakuloa Training Area, rejecting
land swaps and lease renewals with the military unless certain stipulations are established, and conducting a Ka Pa'akai
analysis on the area.
Aloha a Chair Villegas and honorable members of the Hawai'i County Policy Committee
on Environmental and Natural Resource Management,
My name is Ka'aleleo Niau. I come from Hilo. I am 15 years old, and I am a junior at Hilo High School.
And I testify in strong support of the resolution 234-25 urging for a cease of bombing and live fire exercises at Pohakuloa Training Area,
rejecting land swaps and lease renewals, and calling for the conduction of a Ka Pa'akai analysis of cultural and environmental impacts.
The military has failed to comply with their lease terms and clean up obligations for the land they are applying to retain, which is why I
Lim glad the Board of Land and Natural Resources voted against accepting the U.S. Army's final EIS for the extension of their lease on
May 9, 2025.
Our critical habitats and endangered endemic species matter. The burial sites of our ancestors and ancient historical sites
matter. Live -fire exercises can be conducted somewhere else.
I am in strong support of Resolution 234-25 calling for a ceasefire and rejecting land swaps and lease renewals at Pohakuloa Training
Area. I implore the committee to stand with us, the youth, for our tomorrows. P::� c—,
Mahalo, Ka'aleleo Niau.
CDc-)
�(Zn
cCi —r
m COS
M r
-o z r—
a
O
Comm. NO, S
Ref. To: '
Ref. Date AUG 9 025