(BIVN) – An informational briefing on the U.S. Army’s land retention efforts for the Pōhakuloa Training Area is set to take place Friday before the Hawaiʻi Board of Land and Natural Resources, as the state considers whether or not to appraise the leased lands to determine the fair market value for a potential land trade. 

The Department of Land and Natural Resources staff is recommending that the BLNR “authorize the Chairperson to negotiate, approve and execute a contract for appraisal services to determine the fair market value” of the parcels currently leased to the Army for the PTA and other Oʻahu training areas. The U.S. Army has expressed a desire to pursue a land exchange as an alternative to obtaining new leases. 

From the DLNR submittal to the Board: 

At its meeting on October 27, 2023 under agenda item D-11, the Board was provided a briefing by the United States Army (Army) regarding the status of their land retention efforts for training areas leased from the State on the islands of Oahu and Hawaii, specifically the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA); and the Kahuku Training Area, the Kawailoa-Poamoho Training Area and the Makua Military Reservation (collectively “the Oahu Training Areas”). At that meeting, a potential land exchange between the State and the Army was discussed as an alternative to new leases, with the State receiving lands in fee simple from the Army in exchange for the Army granted fee title to the State-owned parcels currently leased to the Army for the PTA and Oahu Training Areas.

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At this time, the Army desires to provide an update briefing to the Board on land retention efforts including compliance with both the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act (HEPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) including forthcoming publication of draft environmental impact statements for the PTA and Oahu Training Areas. Additionally, the Army intends to further explain their desire to pursue a land exchange as an alternative to new leases. Given the complexity of a potential land exchange, the Board is requested to authorize the Chairperson to negotiate, approve and execute a contract for appraisal services to determine the fair market value of the parcels currently leased to the Army for the PTA and Oahu Training Areas. Determining the fair market value for these parcels will be a critical requirement in the land exchange process.

Additionally, given the short time frame until the current leases expire, the Army would like to request that the Department take appropriate action to consider the land exchange option, including timely seeking an appraisal of the state leased areas.

The PTA lease acreage is “more or less” 22,570 acres, the DLNR says.

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There is already some written testimony on the topic. From U.S. Army General (retired) David A. Bramlett: 

I believe that Army retention of PTA is essential for several reasons:

Our national security needs trained and ready forces in the Pacific Hawaii’s strategic location in the Pacific Ocean makes it a critical hub for military operations. The military forces stationed in Hawaii are trained and ready to respond to a variety of threats, including natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and military aggression.

Training soldiers to the highest standards. PTA is the only training area in Hawaii that allows for large unit training, and to train with the full arsenal of weapons firing live ammunition. This training experience is vital to readiness and insures our soldiers and Marines have the best preparation if called upon to fight.

Indeed, Hawaii’s unique geography and climate provide ideal conditions for training in a variety of environments, including jungle, mountain, and urban warfare. However, PTA is the linchpin for combat readiness.

National Guard, Reservists, and First Responders use PTA. Training at PTA allows our permanently local troops to train close to home and to maintain their readiness.

Additionally, the military also allows law enforcement agencies such as Hawaii Police Department, Honolulu Police Department, Hawaii County Fire Department, US Marshals, and FBI to use its training lands for training purposes.

Good neighbors. The military stationed here have proven to be good neighbors and valued members of the community. They are found volunteering to help our schools, conducting organized clean-ups of our beaches and other areas, and have worked to preserve our endangered flora and fauna. The list of contributions goes on, but the military family is integral to the routine life of Hawaii and is vital to its progress.

In summary, PTA is essential, if not indispensable, for training and readiness of the military, both active and reserve (to include the National Guard), and for the many public safety personnel and first-responders that benefit from training at PTA.

Mahalo for your time and for your public service

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Michael Reimer, Ph.D., provided this evaluation in his testimony:

The testimony offered here concerns mainly the leased land at Pōhakuloa training Area (PTA). Another option to retain these lands for training is now presented in addition to the previous 4 options: full land retention; modified retention; minimum retention; and a no action alternative where the land would revert back to the State.

In this commentary, I refer to the lands involved in the discussion as U.S. Army-owned lands even though the lands may be technically owned by the U.S. Government or other federal entity.

The new option is to exchange some U.S. Army-owned lands for the ownership of the currently leased lands. The information provided with this DLNR announcement of April 6, 2024 does not identify the proposed lands the U.S. Army wants to exchange and this is a large limiting parameter in offering comments on the reasonableness of such a proposal. Yet, it is possible to provide broad commentary on consideration of the option and I do so here. Ideally, in making a value comparison, the land in the exchange should be of similar siting to the leased land and in reasonable proximity to it. The actuality of that situation is unknown. The Big Island should be the recipient of the value received from the exchange of the leased land at PTA, meaning, for PTA leased land, the exchanged land should be land on the Big Island.

The first issue is the current location of the leased land at PTA. A primary saddle road connecting east and west Hawaii and the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, run through the current leased land at PTA. This is an essential connector for the two sides of the island and in case of some natural disaster that would disrupt traffic flow on either the northern route with many vulnerable bridges or the southern route with numerous historic lava flows cutting the existing route, this is the only practical alternative route. The County and State would have no control over this section of the Daniel K, Inouye Highway if that land is owned by the U.S. Army, even if there is a right of way agreement. That the U.S. Army is prepared to act in a truculent manner with regards to their control of the leased land was explicitly shown in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement of April 2022 (ARMY TRAINING LAND RETENTION AT PŌHAKULOA TRAINING AREA DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT VOLUME I AND VOLUME II) when it indicated it would no longer provide first responder assistance for fire and other emergencies on the land and the Daniel K. Inouye Highway if the lease were not renewed. Revealing such an intention in the draft EIS merely presaged its intent in any cooperative aspects with civilian government and needs. If given full control of the land, it cannot be unexpected that the U.S. Army would withhold all cooperative services with the County in that vicinity, including not allowing use of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway.

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Given the fact that the land offered in exchange is already owned by the U.S. Army, it would be more efficacious for it to use that land for similar purposes replacing current leased land at PTA. Therefore, land exchange is not a reasonable option in consideration for lease renewal. In fact, it categorically indicates that the best option would be not to renew the lease. Utility of civil transportation through that leased parcel must also include a practical vision of future possible use. It is highly likely that within this century, a rail line, either surface or elevated will be constructed to link windward and leeward Hawaii. The best option would be not to renew the lease and not to exchange that land as the County and State must retain full right of way at all times on that connection route and not risk some future sequestration by the U.S. Army.

A second issue in this DLNR hearing is the cost evaluation of the land related to the exchange. The value of the U.S. Army proposed land in the exchange may be worthless if the U.S. Army has used that land for training purposes. It could be highly contaminated with toxins and not useful for any purpose, perhaps even fitting the U.S. EPA definition of a brownfield site. Like the impact areas on U.S. Army-owned lands at PTA, such exchange lands would never be suitable for agriculture or hunting as anything harvested may be contaminated with toxins related to training activities. It could not be used for recreational purposes because of the risk of toxin and unexploded ordnance exposure. It could not be used for housing. It could not even be used for renewable energy collection purposes because it would be unsafe for construction and maintenance crews to enter the land. One has only to recognize the condition of Kahoʻolawe as an existing uninhabitable example of the contaminated condition of U.S. Military used and abandoned lands.

The chairperson appointed by DLNR and authorized to negotiate, approve and execute a contract for appraisal services must be given the specific task to carefully and thoroughly evaluate the exchange scenario with a detailed independent appraisal including a study for the presence of toxins and the potential transport of toxins from any adjacent training area, including airborne routes and groundwater contamination. The chairperson appointed must be required to consult with independent scientific health personnel regarding that evaluation, and I stress the need for independent evaluation. Additional measurements may have to be made to insure the independence of the data used in the evaluation. Past data is not necessarily an indicator of current and future environmental quality. These sites and adjacent areas must be carefully evaluated for the presence of hazardous materials that may cause risk to humans, wildlife, or ecological systems, both on- and offsite. Costs for such valuation must be covered by the U.S. Army.

A third issue involves a fair market price for the leased lands if the lease is to continue. The value of a lease for the current approximate 22,000 acres, even if the modest lease rates for agricultural equivalency are used rather than a business equivalency, would be about $200/acre/year, plus taxes (hamakuaagcoop.com). This should be a starting point for determining fair market value of lease rates. The lease should also require an adherence to true stewardship of the lands including environmental cleanup and a requirement of a bond posted for environmental cleanup if the U.S. Army does not provide for intermittent cleanup adhering to the terms of the lease when expired. As a condition for granting a lease extension, the U.S. Army must be required to make a thorough cleanup of the existing leased lands so that it provides a clean baseline for comparison at the end of the new or renewed lease period. The U.S. Army has indicated that it has conducted burning of waste and toxic materials in the training area, used the land for dumping military-related trash at uncontained sites, and may have used PFAS-containing firefighting foam products related to firefighting training with the possibility of ground water contamination.

These requirements are not onerous conditions and it is obvious why the U.S. Army would want to take ownership possession of the lands. It could then, at some future time, abandon the land and leave it in an uninhabitable and unoccupiable state that would become a burden for the civilian government to remediate with all the concomitant risks to the public and contractors. And, in all likelihood, the land would be forever uninhabitable.

In sum, the lease should not be renewed, no exchange of land should be considered, and the current leased land should be remediated of all toxic and restored to a natural state. The U.S. Army should use the land it owns for replacement activities presently conducted on the current leased land.

The land board meets at 9 a.m. at the DLNR Boardroom in the Kalanimoku Building at 1151 Punchbowl Street on Oaʻhu. Participants can also join online via ZOOM.