{"id":310684,"date":"2025-12-29T12:01:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T12:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=310684"},"modified":"2025-12-26T05:56:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T05:56:56","slug":"hawaii-has-a-rare-opportunity-to-reclaim-land-from-the-us-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/12\/hawaii-has-a-rare-opportunity-to-reclaim-land-from-the-us-military\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawai\u2019i Has a Rare Opportunity to Reclaim Land from the US Military"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

U.S. Marines attending Corporal\u2019s Course on Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), low crawl on Fort Hase Beach during a Small Unit Leadership Evaluation (SULE), 12 Dec 2018.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jesus Sepulveda Torres)<\/p><\/div>\n

23 Dec 2025\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0Since 1964, the U.S. military has\u00a0leased<\/a>\u00a0roughly 47,000 acres of land from the State of Hawai\u2018i \u2014 for a token $1. The leases, which account for 18 percent of military lands in Hawai\u2018i, are set to expire in 2029, offering Hawai\u2018i a rare opportunity to reclaim land from the war machine. As the expiration date looms, Hawai\u2018i residents are at a crossroads: remain a staging ground for U.S. imperialism or pivot toward community well\u2011being, environmental sustainability, and economic self\u2011determination.<\/p>\n

But that decision may arrive sooner than 2029: Allegedly faced with pressure from federal officials to fast-track lease renewals by the end of this year, Democratic Gov. Josh Green signed<\/a> a statement<\/a> of principles<\/a>\u00a0in September with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll expressing the intention to \u201cexplore the feasibility of land use that aligns national security and Army readiness needs with the State\u2019s priorities for public benefit.\u201d A month later, Green\u00a0sent<\/a>\u00a0Driscoll a proposal for a $10 billion plan that included a \u201ccommunity benefits\u201d package. He argued that this sum would be favorable should the Army pursue \u201ccondemnation,\u201d the use of eminent domain to seize Hawai\u2018i\u2019s land for \u201cnational security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Native Hawaiian groups swiftly\u00a0condemned<\/a>\u00a0the move in a September 2 statement\u00a0signed<\/a>\u00a0by 40 organizations. They opposed fast-tracking the leases and pointed out that Green and Driscoll sidestepped federal and state statutes that require a thorough review \u2014 a process the Army and Navy had already failed to complete earlier that year.<\/p>\n

After mounting pressure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, state legislators, and numerous environmental and civic organizations, Green walked back the end-of-year deadline and extended the negotiation timeline into 2026. Still, the episode highlighted how easily the U.S. military can bypass democratic debate in the name of \u201cnational security,\u201d and how vital it is for the public to have informed discussions about the military\u2019s impact on Hawai\u2018i.<\/p>\n

How Hawai\u2018i Became Occupied<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The U.S. military controls roughly\u00a0254,000 acres<\/a>\u00a0across Hawai\u2018i, making it the most militarized state per capita in the country. On O\u2018ahu alone, the military\u00a0occupies<\/a>\u00a086,000 acres, or 25 percent of the island. These lands were part of the \u201cceded\u201d territories illegally seized from the Hawaiian Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Once a sovereign nation, Hawai\u2018i was the starting point for America\u2019s century of imperialism and conquest in the Pacific. In the late-19th century, American missionaries and plantation owners, seeking to avoid U.S. tariffs on Hawaiian sugar, conspired with the U.S. Navy to\u00a0orchestrate a coup<\/a>\u00a0to overthrow Queen Lili\u2018uokalani in 1893.<\/p>\n

Although the coup was condemned by President Grover Cleveland as illegal, in 1898 President William McKinley signed the Newlands Resolution, illegally annexing Hawai\u2018i as a U.S. territory through a joint congressional resolution, bypassing the legally required two-thirds majority in the Senate to ratify a treaty between two nations.<\/p>\n

After annexation, the provisional government reclassified Crown and government lands as \u201cpublic\u201d property and transferred them to the U.S. Interior Department. In 1908, the U.S. designated Pearl Harbor a naval base, making Hawai\u2018i a strategic location between the U.S. and Asia, and shifted U.S. \u201cManifest Destiny\u201d from a continental to a global empire. When Hawai\u2018i was admitted as a state in 1959, about 1.8 million acres of former Crown and government lands \u2014 including those currently considered for lease renewal \u2014 were transferred to the state, with the condition that these lands be used for five specific public purposes, including the \u201cbetterment of the condition of native Hawaiians.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Military Footprint<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This year, the Hawai\u2018i State Legislature passed\u00a0House Resolution 199<\/a>\u00a0directing the Department of Land and Natural Resources to conduct a comprehensive economic analysis of military\u2011leased lands. The purpose was to assess lost economic opportunities in agriculture, housing, and education, as well as costs for cleanup of contaminants and unexploded ordnance. In the end, the legislature did not fund the study.<\/p>\n

While we lack a comprehensive view, there are indications that the U.S. military\u2019s impact on Hawai\u2018i\u2019s economy and environment is significant, especially as it pertains to housing. According to a 2024 Pentagon report, 35 percent of the 42,333 servicemembers living on O\u2018ahu occupy off-base rental housing. This represents about 10 percent of the private rental properties on Oahu. Not only do military personnel displace local renters, but they also drive up rental prices because of Basic Housing Allowances, which help them outbid locals. While the amount varies by rank, the lowest enlisted pay grade living in Honolulu, an E-1 military personnel without dependents, receives $2,403 per month in addition to their salary. Meanwhile, high-ranking military personnel without dependents receive $4,287 monthly.<\/p>\n

When you add this to their free or low-cost health care, food allowances, subsidized groceries at the commissaries, store discounts, and free education and training, it\u2019s clear that military personnel enjoy a much more comfortable financial situation than many local residents. Even Rep. Ed Case, a Blue Dog conservative Democrat, acknowledged this dynamic: \u201cOne factor in driving unacceptably high home rental prices throughout our state and especially on O\u2019ahu is military servicemember participation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Environmental Damage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While positioning itself as a protector of Hawaii\u2019s security and well-being, the U.S. military strains and poses a major threat to the island\u2019s natural resources. According to data from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, the U.S. Marine Corp Base in K\u0101ne\u02bbohe is the single largest consumer of water in Hawai\u2018i,\u00a0using<\/a>\u00a063.7 million gallons per month.<\/p>\n

Aside from water usage, the U.S. military also jeopardizes Hawai\u2018i\u2019s freshwater supply. In 2021, 20,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked from the Navy\u2019s\u00a0<\/a>Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility<\/a>\u00a0into the Moanalua-Waimalu aquifer, affecting more than 93,000 people, mostly military personnel and their families.<\/p>\n

The fuel storage facility was built in 1940, 100 feet above the aquifer, which serves as the main source of drinking water for over 400,000 Oahu residents. Groups such as Ka\u02bbohewai, a coalition of Native Hawaiian organizations, the\u00a0Sierra Club of Hawai\u2018i<\/a>, and the grassroots group O\u2019ahu Water Protectors mobilized to pressure the Navy to shut down and defuel Red Hill. The disaster response and efforts to shut down the facility have\u00a0cost taxpayers<\/a>\u00a0over $2 billion, and the Board of Water Supply\u00a0is suing the Navy<\/a>\u00a0for $1.2 billion in damages related to cleanup and protecting the island\u2019s drinking water from further contamination. Because of the Red Hill crisis, the Board of Water Supply\u00a0asked residents to reduce water use by 10 percent<\/a>, and in 2025, they doubled that request to 20 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Red Hill crisis exposed a central contradiction of the military\u2019s presence in Hawai\u2019i,\u201d\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0Kyle Kajihiro, University of Hawai\u2018i at Manoa professor. \u201cContrary to the dominant national security discourse that the U.S. military protects Hawai\u2018i and the Pacific region, Red Hill epitomizes the military occupation of Hawai\u2018i that threatens people and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Precedence for Resisting Lease Renewals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Even before a lease can be renewed, the state\u2019s\u00a0Bureau of Land and Natural Resources<\/a>\u00a0(BLNR) must approve the military\u2019s environmental impact statement. In 2025, the BLNR rejected the\u00a0U.S. Army\u2019s Final Environmental Impact Statement<\/a>\u00a0and its lease renewal of 23,000 acres at P\u014dhakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.<\/p>\n

P\u014dhakuloa is the U.S. military\u2019s prized lease, covering about 132,000 acres, of which 20 percent is leased from the state. Under the lease, the military must remove or disable ammunition after training. However, in response to a lawsuit filed by two Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners, a judge\u00a0ruled<\/a>\u00a0that the state did not enforce cleanup rules at P\u014dhakuloa. Inspectors discovered shells and discarded vehicles on the property, and found that the Army\u2019s cleanup efforts and the state\u2019s record-keeping were inadequate. The military\u2019s failure to uphold its lease commitments led the Hawai\u02bbi County Council in August to unanimously approve\u00a0a resolution<\/a>\u00a0calling on the military to halt all \u201cdesecration activities\u201d and for the state to conduct comprehensive cleanup and restoration before considering any lease extensions or land swaps at P\u014dhakuloa.<\/p>\n

According to Mahina Tuteur, a Native Hawaiian attorney with P\u014d`ai Ke Aloha `Aina, Hawai\u2018i \u2019s history with the U.S. military teaches two important lessons. First, once land is acquired \u2014 whether through lease, condemnation, transfer, or other means \u2014 it is rarely returned unless there is organized opposition. Second, the state of Hawai\u02bbi has often failed in its duty as a trustee for these lands.<\/p>\n

Tuteur points to two long-term successful organizing initiatives where K\u0101naka `\u014diwi, along with peace and environmental activists, mobilized communities and filed lawsuits to stop live-fire bombing by the U.S. military. For decades, the U.S. military used\u00a0Kaho`olawe<\/a>\u00a0to practice live-fire bombing for the Korean and Vietnam wars, even simulating an atomic bomb blast. In 1976, as the movement for Hawaiian sovereignty grew, K\u0101naka `\u014diwi occupied Kaho`olawe and demanded an end to the bombings and the return of the land. Fourteen years later, their\u00a0efforts succeeded<\/a>, and cleanup efforts began with $400 million allocated to remove unexploded ordnance, though it remains incomplete.<\/p>\n

Another example is M\u0101lama M\u0101kua, a Native Hawaiian-led community group on O`ahu, which successfully stopped live-fire bombing and secured cultural access in\u00a0M\u0101kua Valley<\/a>\u00a0after\u00a0fighting<\/a>\u00a0for decades to end the military\u2019s use of their land. They are close to ending the military\u2019s lease as a first step towards reclaiming all occupied land.<\/p>\n

Tuteur argues that communities should demand that the State of Hawai\u2018i act as an active trustee, with clear obligations to beneficiaries \u2014 Native Hawaiians and the public \u2014 by requiring environmental and land assessments, ongoing cleanup efforts, and a process rooted in the state\u2019s constitutional duty to protect these lands for future generations.<\/p>\n

Redefining Security in Hawai\u2018i<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Governor\u202fGreen invoked \u201cnational security\u201d to accelerate negotiations of lease renewals with the U.S. Army,\u00a0writing<\/a>\u00a0that the usual public\u2011input process must be set aside because of the \u201curgency\u201d expressed by Army Secretary\u202fDan\u202fDriscoll.<\/p>\n

When the State of Hawai\u2018i signed the original 1964 leases, it did so under the shadow of eminent\u2011domain threats. As Tuteur explains, \u201cCondemnation has been weaponized as a colonial tool and negotiating tactic, often resulting in harm to Hawaiian families.\u201d For Green and Driscoll to think that there can be \u201cfriendly condemnation\u201d \u2014 the expeditious transfer of property via eminent domain \u2014 highlights just how far apart the sides are on this issue.<\/p>\n

Why rush now, especially as U.S.-China relations enter a phase of \u201cmanaged rivalry,\u201d a term\u00a0coined<\/a>\u00a0by David\u202fMeale, a former diplomat, that refers to the space for cooperation despite lingering tensions. A 2025 study by Harvard and MIT scholars published in\u00a0International Security<\/em><\/a>\u00a0reached the same conclusion: \u201cThere is no evidence that China poses an existential threat to the countries on its borders or in its region that it does not already claim sovereignty over.\u201d Analyzing thousands of articles, speeches, and policies, the authors concluded, \u201cChina does not seek regional hegemony or aim to compete with the United States for global supremacy. Instead, China views international relations as multilateral and cooperative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of expanding militarization, the U.S. should partner with China on shared challenges \u2014 especially climate change, to which the U.S. military is a major contributor.<\/p>\n

According to Neta Crawford, a professor at the University of St. Andrews, the Pentagon is the single largest institutional consumer of energy in the United States and the world\u2019s biggest single source of fossil\u2011fuel\u2011related greenhouse\u2011gas emissions. Crawford and Lennard de Klerk\u00a0found<\/a>\u00a0that for the 2024 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) war drills, U.S. forces, which were given 20 million gallons of naval and jet fuel, produced about 300,000 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions, exceeding the annual emissions of the eight lowest-emitting countries in 2022.<\/p>\n

Hawai\u2018i is especially vulnerable to the climate crisis. Chip Fletcher, dean of UH M\u0101noa\u2019s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology,\u00a0warns<\/a>\u00a0that rising carbon dioxide has already pushed Hawai\u2018i into a Pliocene\u2011like climate, where average temperatures exceed 84 degrees Fahrenheit and threaten photosynthesis, but if they climb to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, tropical crops could die permanently. Rising temperatures from climate change are\u00a0causing<\/a>\u00a0intense droughts, triggering wildfires that destroyed\u00a0Lahaina<\/a>\u00a0and warming oceans, leading to \u201ccoral bleaching\u201d and acidification that is destroying marine ecosystems around the islands.<\/p>\n

Rather than serve as a training ground for a prospective U.S.-China war, Hawai\u2018i can instead become the\u00a0piko<\/em>\u00a0(center) of peace and resilience. Hawai\u2018i\u2019s 2015 legislative commitment to 100-percent renewable energy illustrates the state\u2019s capacity to lead on sustainability.<\/p>\n

Professor Jonathan Kamakawiwo\u02bbole Osorio, dean of the Hawai\u02bbinui\u0101kea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, emphasizes that the U.S. occupation of Crown and Government lands deprives Hawai\u02bbi of wise land use. K\u0101naka \u02bb\u014diwi are reclaiming traditional, sustainable food practices like growing taro and building fishponds, advancing innovative solutions to our most urgent infrastructural and affordability issues. \u201cThese lands are from a public trust, and that means that the use of these lands, the deployment of these lands, has to fulfill a public interest,\u201d Osorio said in an interview with\u00a0Truthout<\/em>. \u201cThere is no greater public interest than anticipating the changes that climate is going to force on our society.\u201d Osorio advocates for expanding community governance over these trust lands so that natural resources are managed for the benefit of the people, not for military purposes.<\/p>\n

Reclaiming Land for Hawai\u2018i\u2019s Resilience<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With public pressure mounting, Rep. Jill Tokuda (D- Hawai\u2018i), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee,\u00a0helped remove language<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a02025-26 National Defense Authorization Act<\/a>\u00a0that would have temporarily authorized the military to condemn state land. \u201cUnder no circumstances should we entertain the idea of giving land away to the military,\u201d Tokuda\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in a press release. \u201cIf they attempt such an illegal action, they will lose in court and more importantly, they will lose the trust of the people of Hawai\u2018i.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the people of Hawai\u2018i must seize this crucial opening to advocate for using these state lands to meet more basic human needs that increase the islands\u2019 resiliency and self-sufficiency, especially in the face of climate change.<\/p>\n

Keoni Lee, co\u2011CEO of\u00a0Hawai\u2019i Investment Ready<\/a>,\u00a0argues<\/a>\u00a0that Hawai\u2018i\u2019s pre\u2011colonial economy \u2014 rooted in the non\u2011monetary ahupua\u02bba system where \u201csuccess was measured by the health and productivity of people and \u2018\u0101ina\u201d \u2014 offers a template for a regenerative future. He warns that today\u2019s extraction\u2011driven, GDP\u2011focused model generates inequality and environmental harm. Lee is part of a growing movement in Hawai\u02bbi that is elevating models like\u00a0Kumano I Ke Ala<\/a>, a community-based social enterprise that restores and cultivates traditional agricultural lands and trains youth in the values that supported a once fully sustainable traditional Hawaiian food system.<\/p>\n

Native Hawaiian advocates are building momentum toward a shift in the governance of resources in Hawai\u02bbi, which has been dominated by extractive and abusive industries, such as the military, for too long. While large\u2011scale stewardship projects exist, they are often treated as side ventures, and lack long\u2011term capital investments, like roads or schools. Investing in regenerative economies, Lee argues, could create thousands of place\u2011based jobs in restoration, farming, and renewable energy. \u201cWe\u2019d keep more money circulating locally instead of leaking out, building real security from the inside out,\u201d Lee explains. \u201cHawai\u2018i<\/a>\u2019s resilience is national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

By engaging in informed public debate about the economic, environmental, and cultural costs of the military\u2019s footprint \u2014 and exploring repurposing the military\u2019s footprint for community-driven, sustainable uses \u2014 Hawai\u2018i can transform from a base preparing for war into a beacon of peace, resilience, and Indigenous innovation.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/p>\n

Christine Ahn is an associate fellow at the\u00a0Institute for Policy Studies<\/a>\u00a0and the founder and former executive director of\u00a0Women Cross DMZ<\/a>, a movement of women mobilizing for peace in Korea.<\/em><\/p>\n

Davis Price is co-founder of \u02bb\u0100ina Aloha Economic Futures and the Senior Domestic Policy Strategist at the\u00a0NDN Collective<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – scheerpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

23 Dec 2025\u00a0–\u00a0Since 1964, the U.S. military has\u00a0leased\u00a0roughly 47,000 acres of land from the State of Hawai\u2018i \u2014 for a token $1. The leases are set to expire in 2029, offering Hawai\u2018i a rare opportunity to reclaim land from the war machine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":310685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[867,1149,1309,1312,1395,260,86,897,1914,95,70],"class_list":["post-310684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-militarism","tag-anglo-america","tag-asia-and-the-pacific","tag-hawaii","tag-hawaiian-culture","tag-hawaiian-sovereignty","tag-history","tag-occupation","tag-pacific-islands","tag-polynesian-culture","tag-us-military","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310684"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":310686,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310684\/revisions\/310686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}