Army shutters ranges on sacred Hawaiian land, scaling back land it leases on the island

The Army has shuttered some of its Hawaii training grounds more than 20 years after the last live-fire exercise in 2004, the service said in a Friday release, marking the quiet milestone of a decades-long legal battle over the land’s cultural preservation. As of Oct. 1, Makua Military Reservation on the island of Oahu is permanently closed to live fire, roughly three years after the Army committed to banning it. The service said it would continue to use the airspace above the land. The Army started to use Makua Valley for military training after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, displacing Native Hawaiian residents from an area considered sacred. According to Earthjustice, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that has represented the activist group Malama Makua against the Army over years of legal battles, years of live-fire exercises destroyed cultural sites and caused wildfires. The reservation, which spans nearly 5,000 acres, is home to over 40 endangered and threatened species, the nonprofit said. In 2023, the Pentagon pledged to permanently end live-fire training on the grounds in a move that activists hailed as a step towards reclaiming the land. “Cultural access to the area will continue for Malama Makua without interruption. Wildland fire suppression maintenance and security activities will also continue,” the Army said in its November release. The Army in 2025 pledged not to seek new rights on state-leased lands. The service said it also elected to shift military training on nearby federally managed land to other areas on Oahu. According to the release, the Army is downsizing its leasehold area on the island by 19,500 acres — which includes 5,900 acres of state-leased land. The Army’s leases in Hawaii are set to expire in 2029. Military use of Native Hawaiian lands has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers over lack of consideration for local community members. In May, former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll pledged to follow up with Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-HI, about addressing issues with the service’s leasing negotiations.