Sixty years ago, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) leased 23,000 acres of pristine, conservation-zoned public trust land at Pōhakuloa on Hawaiʻi Island to the U.S. Army. That acreage is included in the inventory of land that comprises the Army’s nearly 133,000-acre Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA).
In 2029, that lease will expire, and while the Army is looking to extend it, many ʻŌiwi, conservationists and other kiaʻi ʻāina are advocating against renewing the lease.
Their reasons are varied and compelling. The fact that the entirety of the training area is located on land zoned for conservation is a good place to start. There is probably no activity more diametrically opposed to the purpose and function of conservation land than military live-fire training and maneuvers.
Pōhakuloa is home to several endangered native species: the ʻio (hawk), nēnē (goose), ʻuʻau (petrel), palila (a honeycreeper) and the ʻōpeʻapeʻa (Hawaiian hoary bat). In addition, 15 bird species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act are found at Pōhakuloa. There are two dozen endemic plant species at Pōhakuloa that are considered endangered, threatened or “species of concern.”
Directly beneath Pōhakuloa, at an elevation of about 4,500 feet, is a massive aquifer, likely the largest in the pae ʻāina and a critical freshwater resource for the island. With the jet fuel leak at Red Hill that imperiled Oʻahu’s main aquifer still fresh in our collective memory, the image of bombs exploding over the water table at Pōhakuloa is terrifying.
Culturally, Pōhakuloa is considered a place set apart, a space meant for elemental spirits rather than human beings. A landscape riddled with caves and lava tubes, it is also the resting place for countless iwi kūpuna. It is considered a place of tremendous spiritual and elemental power. The very piko (center) of the island sits on PTA’s eastern border.
Decades of military training activities involving a range of weapons and munitions, has scarred the earth and left Pōhakuloa cluttered with both spent and unexploded ordnance. PTA’s artillery impact zone is considered too dangerous to clean and so the byproducts of the military’s war games are simply left there, devolving into a toxic, hazardous junkyard.
Of particular concern is the presence of depleted uranium (DU) at Pōhakuloa. During the 1960s, DU, a radioactive heavy metal, was used in munitions fired at PTA – meaning that residue from those weapons remain in the soil of the impact zone and can be aerosolized in the dust clouds that are stirred up during current live-fire exercises. The severe health effects on both human beings and animals exposed to aerosolized DU cannot be overstated.
And then there are the fires. According to the Army’s 2024 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), their activities at PTA caused 892 fires at Pōhakuloa between 1975-2024. The “Leilani Fire” in August 2022 started at Pōhakuloa and burned about 17,700 acres – 12,400 acres of which were outside of the boundaries of PTA and habitats for endangered species.
In the aftermath of the Lahaina wildfire last year, and with global temperatures rising as a consequence of climate change, common sense dictates that dropping bombs and firing munitions in a dry, windy area is a recipe for disaster.
The use of Pōhakuloa for military training began during World War II, when the U.S. Marines leased about 91,000 acres of land from Parker Ranch near Waikōloa. Called the Waikoloa Maneuver Area, the military used it throughout the war for live-fire exercises.
As they did with the island of Kahoʻolawe, the U.S. military viewed Pōhakuloa’s remoteness – located out-of-site in the center of Hawaiʻi Island – as ideal for military training. For about a decade, the Marine Corps controlled the training area until the mid 1950s when the U.S. Army took over.
The actual location of the training area has evolved over time. As coastal areas were developed for resorts, military training moved further inland.
In January 1956, via executive order 1719, Territorial Gov. Samuel W. King, transferred 758 acres of land in Pōhakuloa to the U.S. Army. However, most of the land now included in the PTA was acquired in August 1964 via Presidential Executive Order 11167.
With the stroke of a pen, then President Lyndon B. Johnson commandeered 84,057 acres at Pōhakuloa for the U.S. military justifying it as necessary to protect U.S. interests in the increasingly strategic Indo-Pacific region. The state received no monetary compensation for this land.
Also in 1964, for the ridiculous sum of just $1, the Hawaiʻi State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) leased another 23,000 acres of public conservation land at Pōhakuloa to the U.S. Army for a period of 65 years.
In addition to the land that the U.S. Army has purchased outright, PTA now includes nearly 133,000 acres with an artillery impact zone of 51,000 acres. Most of the land consolidated under the training area is ceded land – the former crown and government lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom that were stolen at the time of the overthrow.
Today, PTA is the largest Department of Defense installation in Hawaiʻi. It is used by all branches of the military, including the National Guard as well as for training Hawaiʻi County fire and emergency personnel. It is also used by “friendly” foreign military personnel during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises held in Hawaiʻi every two years.
The military insists that Pōhakuloa is important for national security. The U.S. Army website states that: “PTA’s firing ranges allow units to conduct small-arms and crew-served weapons familiarization training and qualifications, as well as artillery and mortar live fire. Through the years PTA’s ranges and training areas have helped Army, Marine, Air Force and Navy units maintain their combat readiness and prepare for war.
“Today, PTA stands as the premier military training area in the Pacific region…because it offers realistic training opportunities not found elsewhere. With several new construction projects underway, PTA stands ready to support military training well into the future.”
The Army also claims that “PTA is a vanguard of environmental and cultural protection” and that its staff includes “more than 50 professionals dedicated to preserving and protecting endangered and threatened plants and safeguarding cultural resources at PTA.”
That sounds good, but after the bombing of Kahoʻolawe ended in 1990, the U.S. Navy spent $344 million and 10 years clearing unexploded ordnance from surface of the island, but still only cleaned 75% of its mess. And PTA’s artillery impact zone is almost twice the size of the island of Kahoʻolawe.
Unfortunately, the U.S. military does not have an impressive track record for environmental protection or cultural preservation.
The 23,000 acres of land that the Army leases from the state is not in the artillery impact zone, but it is needed to “connect” U.S. government-owned lands at PTA. In anticipation of renewing its lease, the Army has already prepared two draft Environmental Impact Statements – although it seems that no comprehensive archaeological survey has ever been completed at Pōhakuloa – at least nothing that has been shared with the public.
Regardless, the Army intends to stay at Pōhakuloa.
Should DLNR elect not to renew the Army’s lease at Pōhakuloa five years from now, the cultural, environmental and health concerns relative to the military’s activities there will not be resolved.
Although PTA’s footprint will be smaller, which is important, the Army will still retain more than 100,000 acres of land there, and so they will continue using the sacred lands of Pōhakuloa for target practice.
 leased 23,000 acres of pristine, conservation-zoned public trust land at Pōhakuloa on Hawaiʻi Island to the U.S. Army.){kind=link}