News Release
Center for Biological Diversity
May 9, 2025
Hawai‘i Rejects Army’s Proposal to Continue Bombing Sacred Pōhakuloa
Rejection Is Major Victory for Native Species, Cultural Rights, Public Trust Lands
HONOLULU— In a powerful defense of Hawai‘i’s environment, cultural heritage, Hawaiian rights and public lands, the state’s Board of Land and Natural Resources voted today to reject the U.S. Army’s final environmental impact statement for its proposed “retention” of up to 22,750 acres of state-owned land it currently leases at Pōhakuloa Training Area on Hawai‘i Island.
The area is a U.S. military training base located in the high plateau between Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Hualālai. It spans more than 132,000 acres, making it the largest U.S. Department of Defense installation in the islands.
The board’s rejection effectively halts the Army’s attempt to secure a new lease, for now. Under Hawai‘i law, the Army must resubmit a revised statement that addresses the board’s concerns by including necessary environmental and cultural reviews and satisfactorily responding to public and agency comments submitted on prior drafts, among other requirements.
“This decision is a win for truth, for science and for the people of Hawai‘i,” said Maxx Phillips, Hawai‘i and Pacific Islands director and staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The board saw through the Army’s hollow promises and recognized that you can’t make informed decisions about protecting endangered species, sacred sites or clean water when you refuse to even do baseline surveys. This vote is a powerful affirmation that the future of these lands must be decided with integrity, not rubber-stamped based on incomplete and misleading information.”
…
For the entire release, see
https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/hawaii-rejects-armys-proposal-to-continue-bombing-sacred-phakuloa-2025-05-09/
—
Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)
_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@lists.cpeo.org
http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/military-cpeo.org
|