Office of Hawaiian Affairs pushes ballot amendment to ban destructive live‑fire training, rallies community on lease expirations

Kyle Kahele, chair of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Hawaii Island trustee, told a packed community presentation in Waiʻanae that military leases covering large tracts of former crown and government lands are “one of the most consequential issues of our generation.” He outlined recent legal and political shifts — including a new mention of OHA in the National Defense Authorization Act — and described OHA’s strategy of combining legal review, public education and community organizing to press for land return and stricter oversight.

Leina Alalei, OHA’s director of advocacy, summarized OHA’s role in commenting on environmental impact statements, advocating for archaeological and cultural inventories, and enforcing state statutes when public‑trust lands are at issue. She said the history of ceded lands, the Admission Act and later federal statutes creates particular legal obligations for state agencies and places OHA in a fiduciary role for Native Hawaiians.

On policy, Kahele announced that OHA intends to pursue a constitutional amendment to prohibit destructive live‑fire training on state public‑trust lands and to place that amendment on the 2026 ballot. “We place on the ballot in the 2026 election a constitutional amendment to prohibit live fire on the state's public trust lands in the state of Hawaii,” he said, adding that the proposal had passed the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs convention and been approved by the OHA board for transmission to the legislature.

The presenters stressed the scale and timeline of the issue: many leases originated in the 1960s and most 65‑year terms begin to expire between 2028 and 2031. OHA counsel reviewed the legal tools available — contested‑case hearings, statutory limits such as HRS 171‑95 (which caps DLNR leases at 65 years), federal pathways including Public Law 88‑233, and historic precedents such as the Kahoʻolawe litigation and later congressional actions — and said the BLNR (Board of Land and Natural Resources) is the immediate decision point for EIS acceptance and lease renewal.

The presentation also outlined OHA’s near‑term internal actions. Kahele said the OHA board planned to convene the next day to establish a permitted interaction group and a technical advisory team to coordinate negotiations with federal service secretaries and to guide community‑led policy positions. He emphasized both litigation and grassroots organizing as necessary tactics.

Public testimony that evening combined moral appeals, technical questions about valuation and cleanup, and calls for stronger legislative oversight. Commenters urged transparency on lease valuation (some criticized existing $1‑a‑year leases and asked about back rent), detailed accounting of cleanup costs and commitments for unexploded ordnance and contamination, and broad community representation in decision processes. Chanel Kauʻi Inoa, who identified herself as working with ground‑level organizers, said institutions have lost community trust and urged coordinated front‑line action alongside legal challenges. Louella Leonardi recounted decades of homestead and protest history and raised concerns about contamination including UXO and depleted‑uranium residues.

OHA and community speakers repeatedly framed the issue as one of process as much as outcome: they asked for legislative changes to require greater oversight of large acreage exchanges under HRS 171‑95, transparent valuation and lease terms in EIS processes, and enforceable cleanup commitments when land is returned. Mahina Payshawn, a member of Gov. Josh Green’s advisory committee who spoke near the close of the event, said the governor was expected to participate in a follow‑up meeting the following week and reiterated a five‑point joint declaration calling for meaningful Native Hawaiian representation, cleanup and return of leased lands, accountability, rule‑of‑law compliance and transparent, consent‑based engagement.

The session closed with OHA committing to follow‑up: convening its permitted interaction group, assembling technical advisers, continuing community outreach, and pressing both the BLNR and the legislature for statutory reform and greater transparency. The organization asked residents to stay engaged, consult OHA’s online resources (including documents cited during the presentation), and participate in the next phase of community and legislative advocacy.

The most immediate procedural next steps are OHA’s internal PIG and advisory appointments and the upcoming follow‑up meeting that may include the governor’s office. No final lease decisions were made at the event; the meeting focused on strategy, community input and OHA’s planned actions.