The Army is seeking to extend its lease on Hawaii's Big Island for the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) when it expires in 2029, to the chagrin of local Hawaiians and environmental activists.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll recently held talks with Hawaii Governor Josh Green about the issue. The PTA is the Army's only large-scale firing range on Hawaii, and is seen by the Army as critical for training soldiers in Brigade and battalion-level exercises and preparing them for a potential conflict with China.
Locals see it differently, with the Hawaiian community saying that the military exercises cause environmental damage and cultural desecration of the land. In some ways, the controversy is an echo of another firing range on another island. In the 1990s, there was similar controversy about the Navy's use of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques as a bombing range. Widespread protests were held until the Navy withdrew from the island in 2003.
In May, Hawaii's Board of Land and Natural Resources voted not to accept the Army's environmental impact survey, a decision that many believe came about because of the Red Hill spill in 2022 in which a massive underground fuel depot run by the Navy near Pearl Harbor leaked and contaminated the local water supply.
The Army is continuing negotiations to renew the lease for some, or all, of the PTA before it expires in 2029.
"We will be exploring possibilities on the military leases together in the coming days and weeks, and he now better understands how important it is to us to work together for the good of Hawaii’s people and our land, while we all work together protect our country,” Gov. Green said in a recent press statement.