Pohakuloa plans need balance

Congress is poised Wednesday to introduce a bipartisan bill, the Asia-Pacific Priority Act. The aims of the legislation, to be co-sponsored by Hawaii’s U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and Republican Congressman Randy Forbes, include authorizing upgrades to military ranges and designating Pohakuloa Training Area as the "premier training range" in the Pacific.

The drafting of this bill follows a six-month congressional focus on what the Obama administration terms the "pivot" to Asia, in which Hawaii would play a critical role.

Encompassing 133,000 acres on Hawaii island’s high central plateau, Pohakuloa has been envisioned as a 21st-century training field to ensure combat-readiness of U.S. forces, a key element in regional defense, and in Hawaii filling its regional role.

However, this preparedness will come at a cost. Hawaii land is a precious resource, with associated cultural and environmental assets. That means the job of Hawaii’s elected leaders — who represent civilian interests as well as the military — is to see that the cost is not too high.

That’s no small order. Finding the right balance has been an elusive goal, with the ordnance-laced landscape of Kahoolawe, as well as years of environmental court fights over training activities in Leeward Oahu’s Makua Valley, as part of the legacy.

Pohakuloa itself has been the focal point of environmental court battles, going back decades. First there was a legal challenge of a 1986 environmental assessment finding "no significant impact" for construction of the Army’s multipurpose range complex there.

Plaintiffs, citing environmental damage, sued to stop construction because an environmental impact statement had not been done.

In the settlement, the range was completed but an EIS was ordered before operations could begin; numerous threatened or endangered plant species were identified. More than 300 archaeological sites have been identified.

So this rocky training area, located about halfway between Hilo and the Army landing site at Kawaihae, is not barren lava but endowed with ecological and cultural treasures. This is one reason why a coalition of Native Hawaiian organizations protested its use as a training site for the Army’s Stryker brigade, equipped with its large armored vehicles.

That lawsuit ultimately failed to block the brigade.

But there should be hope for a balanced approach that accommodates the concerns of the community at large and military needs. Four years ago, Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, then head of the U.S. Army in the Pacific, said the Army would shift artillery and heavy-weapons training from Makua Military Reservation to Pohakuloa as the latter training range is further developed over the ensuing five to 10 years.

Certainly, signals from the Army over its Hawaii training footprint have been mixed since then, but the general’s statement, and the fact that live-fire in Makua has not resumed in years, would suggest that accommodation is still possible.

Back on Capitol Hill, Congress soon will start contemplating "necessary upgrades" to Pohakuloa, to include constructing a runway capable of accommodating C-17 Globemaster cargo jets. The plan also calls for moving an existing high-speed vessel to Hawaii — identical or at least similar to the vessel known as the Superferry — to help lower transportation costs.

The provision also encourages more use of Pohakuloa by regional partners and allies during exercises such as the Rim of the Pacific war games.

There’s no talk yet about balance. Hawaii leaders should advocate exactly that: a reduction or ending of the Makua exercises as Pohakuloa builds out. And Hawaii island residents surely will press for sufficient environmental and cultural protections.

As the Asia-Pacific Priority Act moves through Congress, addressing such issues also needs to be on the priority list.