Army publishes final environmental impact statement on retaining Pohakuloa Training Area
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Army has released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) to help guide its future at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) on the island of Hawaii.
The study has had to be revised after getting negative public feedback.
The final EIS comes as the military’s 65-year lease of state land is set to expire in 2029. The state charged the military a total of $1.
The Army is open to leasing a slightly smaller area, but a chorus of critics would like it to leave the land.
“It is, essentially, a real estate action,” said Lt. Col. Tim Alvarado, the PTA garrison commander.
The PTA is the largest live-fire range and maneuver training area in Hawaii, using nearly 23,000 acres of state land between Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Hualalai.
The final EIS produced by the Army said it’s preferred alternative would be to lease 19,700 acres.
“As we negotiate with the state, there’s purchases, there’s leases, there’s other different variations of what those real estate actions are,” said Alvarado.
State Rep. Ikaika Hussey sponsored a resolution approved by the House Thursday, urging the Department of Land and Natural Resources to conduct a comprehensive economic analysis of all military-leased lands in the state.
“If we were to charge the military the same sort of per acre fees that we charge other land users for -- farmers, for instance -- then, what would that dollar amount be?” said Hussey.
Hussey said it would cost far more than a dollar. He offered a potential purchase price.
“I have rough estimates, back of the napkin kind of math. I’m guessing around $200 million,” he said, “Just for the PTA lands.”
Some worry the federal government, especially under the Trump Administration, would just take the land. But even that would come with a price.
“The way that condemnation is supposed to work is they’re supposed to pay an appropriate market-based price for those lands,” said Hussey.
Another option is that the state could evict the Army. Many Native Hawaiians and environmental groups want the military to leave what the state considers to be conservation lands.
“Lands in the conservation district are the lands that are supposed to be the most protected. They include lands that have the most unique natural and cultural resources,” said environmental attorney David Kimo Frankel. “This is the area that the Army wants to bomb.”
“Across, really, all of Hawaii, we have a significant amount of resources that go into the stewardship of those types of natural resources and cultural resources,” Alvarado said.
He added that if the lease is not renewed for any reason, it would be a big loss, not just for maintaining readiness for the armed forces.
“It’s not just our military, but it’s also our law enforcement and first responders who are able to take advantage of this land to get that training that they aren’t able to get anywhere else, on this island or any of the other islands.”
The Army will now observe a 30-day waiting period before deciding how much land, if any, it will retain. The Army also said it has distributed the document to Native Hawaiian organizations, federal, state and local agencies, officials and other stakeholders.
More information and the full EIS are available here.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
