OHA to hold Maui listening session Saturday on military-leased lands

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs will hold a community briefing and listening session on the future of military-leased lands in Hawaiʻi at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the Pāʻina Dining Hall at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College in Kahului.

OHA Chief Advocate Leinaala Ley and Compliance Advocate Leialoha Makuanani will present, OHA spokesperson Bill Brennan said. The second half is reserved for audience questions, with a five-minute limit per person. The session will be livestreamed at oha.org.

No military leases are expiring in Maui Nui, but federal military activity affects the islands and surrounding waters, Brennan said, adding that OHA expects the AMOS STAR telescope project on Haleakalā to be raised during the listening session. (AMOS STAR is short for the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site Small Telescope Advanced Research facility.)

OHA has been holding briefings across the islands to raise awareness of military land leases in Hawaiʻi set to expire between 2028 and 2031. OHA is also collecting public comment through an online survey on its website. Asked why Maui residents should take part, Brennan said OHA is committed to incorporating community feedback into its position on the issue.

Recent developments

On Feb. 26, OHA Board of Trustees Chair Kaialiʻi Kahele wrote to Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll requesting a meeting to establish a formal dialogue on the expiring leases. Assistant Secretary of the Army W. Jordan Gillis replied March 18 that the Army would engage with OHA through the Governor’s Advisory Committee.

OHA is opposing the Navy’s and NASA’s final environmental impact statement for continued use of about 8,172 acres of state land on Kauaʻi at the Pacific Missile Range Facility and Kōkeʻe Park Geophysical Observatory, Brennan said, citing deficiencies similar to those OHA raised for Pōhakuloa and Oʻahu. The state suspended its deadline for deciding whether to accept the statement in September, citing recovery from Hurricane Lowell.

An OHA proposal for a constitutional amendment on live-fire military training on public trust lands did not pass the Legislature last session, Brennan said. OHA trustees will vote on whether to seek its reintroduction next session.