Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 5, 1 May 1994 — Navy's plan for Bellows doesn't include returning it to Hawaiians [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Navy's plan for Bellows doesn't include returning it to Hawaiians

by Jeff Clark "We can't lose this one." So says OHA trustee Klna'u Boyd Kamali'i in emphasizing the importance of the battle over Bellows Air Force Station within the overall issue of ceded lands. The U.S. Navy's plans for the l,500-acre beachfront property, located in Waimānalo, include building housing units (up to 500) for military personnel, expanding training facilities and relocating the Hawai'i Army National Guard there. Presently the land is used for recreation (a use that includes beach cabins, campsites and other facilities), a communications station, and amphibious assaults by the Mailne Corps. The military's plan outrages some members of the Hawaiian community. The land rightfully belongs to the Hawaiians, on one count, and the parcel has been underused for years, they charge.

The military held scoping meetings in late March to present its plan and to receive public comment as part of its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) process, but, Kamali'i said in an interview, "These scoping meetings are totally out of line." "We ean'ī lose this one. That is not their land; they have no right to even assume that they have the authority to expand their services on that land," Kamali'i said. Representing OHA's committee on land and sovereignty, Kamali'i testified at the March 30 meeting in Waimānalo that "Bellows Air Station should have been returned 30 years ago. ... Any argument that the Bellows lands are needed for national purposes verges on the frivolous.

These lands have not been used except for recreational purposes and occasional military exercises for years." Not so, says the military; in an opinion pieee written for the Honolulu Advertiser a year ago, Adm. Charles Larson, commander-in-chief of the United States Pacific Command, said that Bellows is an essential training area. It is used by the Army, the National Guard and the Marines, who use Bellows to practice amphibious assaults about 240 days a year. "Bellows' unique combination of beach and maneuver training areas is essential if the Marines are to maintain

their combat-ready status," Larson wrote. He added that without Bellows, it would be hard to justify the Marines' presence in Kāne'ohe, where they are beneficial to the economy. He also said the area is important because military personnel use it for recreation, enhancing their quality of life and helping to offset the eeonomie hardship of being stationed in Hawai'i. As Ka Wai Ola went to press, OHA land and natural resources officer Linda Delaney said she was waiting for approval from the board of trustees to fire off letters to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy, informing them of OHA's concems.

"We do not believe they have the authority to alter use of Bellows, and if it is surplus it should be returned, and don't do any more planning," Delaney said. "We feel that the EIS process is inappropriate." Coming out on the side of the Hawaiians has been Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who has made it clear that he will not support any funding for development of Bellows that does not have the blessings of the Hawaiian community. Abercrombie said in a statement to the military that he is disturbed that the military fails to acknowledge that the parcel is part of the ceded lands trust, calling it '"Department of Defense real estate' and 'military lands' as if the federal government held unencumbered title to the land. We know from a reading of the historical record and the law that ceded lands are part of the patrimony of the Hawaiian people. It is unconscionable that we should be talking about building [military] housing on ceded lands while Hawaiian families are homeless on the beach."

Bellows: the military wants to hold on to it. Photo by Jeff Clark