WHEREAS, Makua Valley is a sacred place to native Hawaiians and the mythic birthplace of the Hawaiian people; and
WHEREAS, located along the Waianae Range, on the dry, leeward side of Oahu, Makua Valley is a lush, green, 4,190-acre coastal valley hemmed in by mountains that the native Hawaiians call "Makua"; and
WHEREAS,
Makua Valley contains many ancient Hawaiian artifacts and cultural sites and is home to nearly 50 endangered plant and
animal species, including the Oahu tree snail and 'elepaio; and
WHEREAS, in ancient times the ahupuaa of Makua was home to a small Hawaiian population that farmed kalo and 'uala and fished the rich waters of the Waianae Coast; and
WHEREAS, in the late 19th century, a large portion of Makua Valley's government and kuleana lands were converted into the Lincoln McCandless Ranch, before giving way to the Makua Military Reservation, and many of the valley's still-intact lava rock walls date to this era; and
WHEREAS, community organization Malama Makua cited archaeological evidence indicating that Makua Valley had a thriving Hawaiian community before European contact; and
WHEREAS, Makua Beach is used by the Waianae community as a social and cultural gathering space, especially in recent years as the coast's homeless population has increased; and
WHEREAS, since Malama Makua was able to secure regular public access trips in 2002, the valley's potential as a cultural and environmental learning tool has and continues to grow; and
WHEREAS, community members are slowly reshaping the valley with a different vision for its future as they have already restored a previously hidden spring and have participated in the clearing of unexploded ordnance; and
WHEREAS, while Makua Valley looks like paradise from afar, the valley has been caught in the line of fire and has absorbed decades of live-fire training exercises by the United States military; and
WHEREAS, after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, native Hawaiian families that had lived for generations in Makua Valley were evicted and told that their lands would be returned six months after the cessation of hostilities, but the military has been in control of Makua Valley ever since; and
WHEREAS, the use of Makua Valley by the United States military dates back to 1929, but it was not until 1943 that the valley was acquired for joint Army-Navy wartime training and bivouacs, forcing most residents to leave; and
WHEREAS, in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson created the Makua Military Reservation under a 65-year lease for the sum of $1 and the valley has since been the Army's principal live-fire training site in Hawaii, and although live-fire training was halted in 2004 by Malama Makua's lawsuit, artillery pop-up targets and tire enclosures used for grenade practice remain in the valley under the premise of the Army's return; and
WHEREAS, during Makua Valley's paniolo days, introduced cattle and wild pigs disrupted much of the area's native plant and animal life, but this pales in comparison to the impact that later military activities have caused, such as thousands of acres burned by accidental fires, toxic soil, water contamination, and open burn and open detonation of military waste; and
WHEREAS, when the Army agreed to do an environmental impact statement at Makua Valley in 2001 after intense pressure from local Hawaiian groups, it unearthed more than 100 ancient sites that are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; and
WHEREAS, Malama Makua, represented by Hawaii's only nonprofit environmental law firm, Earthjustice, filed suit in August 2009 to set aside the Army's environmental impact statement for proposed military training in Makua Valley until the Army completed key marine contamination studies and archaeological surveys; and
WHEREAS, the United States military was required to complete the environmental impact statement's studies by an October 2001 settlement of Malama Makua's earlier lawsuit challenging the Army's failure to prepare an environmental impact statement for Makua Valley, as well as a related settlement in January 2007; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the Senate concurring, that the United States Army is requested to complete the Makua Valley environmental impact statement, halt all activities within Makua Valley, and initiate an efficient and effective cleanup of the area so that Makua Valley may be returned to the families who lost their homelands generations ago; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Commander of the United States Pacific Command, Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, Governor, President of Earthjustice, and Chairperson of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board.
|
|
OFFERED BY: |
_____________________________ |
Makua Valley; Military