Colorado chopper crash cost $25.8 million

As helicopters roar overhead en route from Pohakuloa to Wheeler, I received this article about a helicopter crash in Colorado from Shannon Rudolph in Kona. The Army is proposing to do High Altitude Mountainous Environment Terrain Training (HAMET) helicopter training on the slopes of Mauna Kea, which is a bad idea all around. Mauna Kea is a sacred site to Native Hawaiians, an ecologically sensitive and protected area, and a poor location for the Army to meet its own training objectives.

The article cites an investigation of the crash that says “The investigation was also critical of the training program, designed to prepare Army pilots for Afghanistan… the program “focuses almost exclusively” on landing at high elevations even though helicopters have little need to do that in Afghanistan.”

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/09/colorado-helicopter-crash_n_833482.html

Colorado Helicopter Crash Cost U.S. Army $25.8 Million

By Dan Elliott, AP

DENVER — An Army helicopter that crash-landed during a high-altitude training mission in Colorado last year suffered $25.8 million in damage, officials revealed this week.

The replacement price for the AH-64D Longbow helicopter from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., is between $25 million and $30 million, the Army said. It wasn’t immediately known whether the Army would try to repair the aircraft.

The helicopter was attempting to land at about 12,200 feet above sea level June 30 when it crashed.

Two pilots were aboard. One suffered two broken legs, a broken nose and internal injuries. The other was treated and released.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

February 28, 2011

One Creature That Deserves Extinction: the V-22 Osprey

John Feffer wrote the following article about the resistance to the expansion of the U.S. base in Takae, Okinawa. Construction has commenced with forcible removal of protesters. When protesters took their demands to the U.S. Embassy, several were arrested and physically assaulted. Note that one of the aircraft being protested is the V-22 Osprey, the same aircraft proposed for the Marine Corps Base Hawai’i Kaneohe Bay.

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http://www.fpif.org/blog/one_creature_that_deserves_extinction_the_v-22_osprey

One Creature That Deserves Extinction: the V-22 Osprey

By John Feffer, February 25, 2011

V22 Osprey

Some animals should be endangered. Consider the V-22 Osprey. The tilt-rotor aircraft, which takes off like a helicopter but flies like a plane, costs more than a $100 million apiece, killed 30 personnel in crashes during its development stage, and survived four attempts by none other than Dick Cheney to deep-six the program. Although it is no longer as crash-prone as it once was, the Osprey’s performance in Iraq was still sub-par and it remains a woefully expensive creature. Although canceling the program would save the U.S. government $10-12 billion over the next decade, the Osprey somehow avoided the budget axe in the latest round of cuts on Capitol Hill.

It’s bad enough that U.S. taxpayers have to continue to support the care and feeding of this particular Osprey. Worse, we’re inflicting the bird on others.

In a small village in the Yanbaru Forest in northern Okinawa, the residents of Takae have been fighting non-stop to prevent the construction of six helipads designed specifically for the V-22. The protests have been going on since the day in 2007 when Japanese construction crews tried to prepare the site for the helipads. “Since that day, over 10,000 locals, mainland Japanese, and foreign nationals have participated in a non-stop sit-in outside the planned helipad sites,” writes Jon Mitchell at Foreign Policy In Focus. “So far, they’ve managed to thwart any further construction attempts. At small marquee tents, the villagers greet visitors with cups of tea and talk them through their campaign, highlighting their message with hand-written leaflets and water-stained maps.”

Yanbaru

It’s all part of the plan that would shut down the aging Futenma air base in Okinawa, relocate some of the Marines to Guam, and build a new facility elsewhere in Okinawa. The overwhelming majority of Okinawans oppose this plan. They want to shut down Futenma, and they don’t want any new U.S. military bases.

But the Japanese government has essentially knuckled under to U.S. pressure to move forward with the agreement. Building these helipads in a subtropical forest, with a wide range of unusual wildlife, is all part of the deal.

The recently re-elected Okinawan governor Hirokazu Nakaima opposes the relocation plan. And, according to Pacific Daily News, “Nakaima may actually have the authority to disrupt the plan because of his authority under the Japan Public Water Reclamation Act, which gives the Okinawa governor final authority over reclaimed land.” Washington has said that it won’t move forward on the deal without local support.

The Osprey is a budget-busting beast. The Okinawans don’t want it. Both Tokyo and Washington are desperate to trim spending.

The V-22 is one animal well worth driving toward extinction.

February 24, 2011

Please don’t build your telescope on Mauna Kea, Mr. Moore

The following letter is from Kealoha Pisciotta to Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel Corporation and a major backer of the TMT project (Stadium-sized telescope planned for Mauna Kea).

Please don’t build your telescope on Mauna Kea, Mr. Moore

An Open Letter to Intel’s Gordon Moore

Aloha Mr. Moore.

I first wish to acknowledge your great contributions as co-founder of Intel Corporation, trustee of the California Institute of Technology, and philanthropic supporter of science, as well as natural resource protection elsewhere in the world. You have given much to society, and for this, I thank you. I write today, however, regarding your financial backing of an aggressive campaign to build the world’s largest telescope—the Thirty Meter Telescope—atop Mauna Kea.

The summit of Mauna Kea is protected by state and federal laws that support conservation over development because Mauna Kea is home to rare plant and animal species found nowhere else on planet Earth, some on the brink of extinction. Astronomy, including the search for life on other planets, is a noble endeavor, but it loses its nobility if life on Earth is imperiled by those efforts.

Extinction begins the process of unraveling creation; it is forever, and it is unacceptable, especially in this day and age.

Mauna Kea is one of the most sacred places in the archipelago. Islanders use the mountain as a place of spiritual contemplation, healing and recreation. For Native Hawaiians, Mauna Kea is a temple dedicated to Aloha and peace. It is where our supreme being gave birth to all living things great and small. It was the meeting place of Papa (Earth Mother) and Wakea (Sky Father), the progenitors of the Hawaiian people, and is the burial ground of our most revered ancestors.

We use Mauna Kea’s high elevation landscape for ceremonies that contain star and other knowledge essential to modern Hawaiian voyaging. Our ancestors used this knowledge since before the time of Christ and millennia before modern astronomy, to voyage to hundreds of tiny islands spread over ten million square miles of the Pacific. More than ninety-three astronomical sites are available in the world for doing astronomy, but Mauna Kea is the only place on Earth for conducting these ceremonies.

The controversy over the TMT does not end with moral and ethical questions about culture and the environment. There are also legal issues. Caltech and the University of California have repeatedly built telescopes on Mauna Kea without complying with state or federal environmental laws, escalating the decades-long conflict between the astronomers and islanders. In the 1990’s, despite public outcry about building more telescopes, Caltech and UC (and their NASA partner) campaigned to build as many as six more “outrigger” telescopes for the Keck observatory, and the people had to turn to the courts for justice.

My organization was one of the plaintiffs, and the courts found in our favor in both lawsuits. In 2003, a federal judge ordered the Keck project to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, and in 2007 a state judge voided the Keck permit for Mauna Kea because it violated state law.

Sadly, the TMT Project perpetuates this legacy of lawlessness. As just two examples, TMT officials refuse to do a federal EIS, claiming in their state EIS that the project received no federal funds—a trigger for NEPA—despite millions in National Science Foundation funding. They’ve also ignored Hawai‘i limits on the number of telescopes allowed. Repeating the same errors the courts previously found unlawful is outrageous. Is this the legacy you wish to continue, Mr. Moore?

Aloha is not just a catchy phrase, like “it’s all good.” It’s about truth which is meant to heal. Over and over, islanders have peacefully expressed—with aloha—our concerns, yet you and your colleagues continue to push this project without following the law. Community fear and frustration are escalating, and the people now see no choice but to again challenge this lawlessness in court. Mr. Moore, you have a chance to hold the California observatories to a higher standard of Aloha. You can influence the TMT Board of Directors before they meet this month to decide the location of your telescope.

It is time to Aloha Mauna Kea, Mr. Moore.

Kealoha Pisciotta is a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and a former Telescope

Systems Specialist for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea. She is President of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, one of the plaintiffs in the 2007 landmark case that stopped the Keck outriggers from being built on Mauna Kea.

Please get your testimony in TODAY!!! We need it for the 2/25 hearing — mahalo!!! http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2699/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5861

February 24, 2011August 3, 2015

Protect Mauna Kea

Eyes of the He’e

Courtesy TMT International Observatory

Mauna Kea, the sacred mountain of Wakea and Poliahu is again threatened by plans to construct a giant telescope there. The so-called Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) would be the largest telescope in the world and a desecration to one of the most sacred temples in Hawai’i and across the Pacific.

Aerospace and astronomy programs have had a long and incestuous relationship with the military. On Haleakala there is a prototype of the Air Force PanSTARRS telescope and the Maui optical tracking station for missile defense testing. The larger full-size PanSTARRS is being proposed for Mauna Kea. The TMT project is ostensibly a civilian venture, but it is part of the aerospace-military complex that has taken over the peaks of many of our mountains in Hawai’i, from Makaha ridge and Koke’e on Kaua’i, to Ka’ena, Ka’ala and Palehua on O’ahu to Haleakala on Maui and Mauna Kea on Hawai’i. These are the giant eyes of the monstrous military he’e (octopus) in Hawai’i.

There will be a critical hearing of the Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday, 2/25 at 9:00 am at the Kalanimoku Building, 1151 Punchbowl St. to decide if the University of Hawai’i will be granted a permit to build in conservation district. See the action alert from Kahea below. You can submit testimony online from their website: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2699/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5861

If you can attend the hearing on Friday, please turn out to express your opposition to this desecration of a sacred mountain. Holding the hearing on O’ahu is a way to exclude the Hawai’i island community that has been most organized against this project.

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No More Bulldozers on Mauna Kea

The construction permit for the massive Thirty Meter Telescope complex will be considered by the Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday, February 25, 2011.

The TMT Corporation and the University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents are proposing to build a new massive, 18-story telescope, 21,000 square foot office building, road, and parking lot on undeveloped land on Mauna Kea’s summit, called the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).

Mauna Kea is unique in the world, a place of deep significance in the Hawaiian worldview, and home to rare Hawaiian plants and animals found nowhere else on the planet. Mauna Kea was honored among the sacred places of the world in a National Geographic (January 2011) Special Edition titled, “The Earth’s Holiest Places: Sacred Journeys.”

The TMT needs a construction permit approved by the Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources (Land Board) before any bulldozers can be sent up the mountain.

We think there is a real chance this permit could be denied, but we also know there is a lot of pressure from developers to approve it. This is the last major permit developers need to begin construction on this 18-story, 8-acre development.

Join hundreds of people from around the islands! Urge the Land Board Members to reject this permit application, and take true, strong steps to protect the future of Mauna Kea. Submit your testimony today! Your voice matters, especially when it is in your own words — if can, please take a minute to write a few sentences to make your testimony unique and the more effective. Thanks!

Background

What’s Going On?

The University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents and the TMT Corporation are proposing to build a new massive,18-story telescope, 21,000 square foot office building, road, and parking lot–called the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)–on undeveloped conservation and “ceded” lands on Mauna Kea.

This telescope is the largest ever proposed for Mauna Kea, and, if built, would be the second largest in the world.

Mauna Kea is unique on earth, a place of deep significance in the Hawaiian worldview, and home to rare Hawaiian plants and animals found nowhere else on the planet. Mauna Kea was honored among the sacred places of the world in a National Geographic (January 2011) Special Edition titled, “The Earth’s Holiest Places: Sacred Journeys.”

Mauna Kea is wao akua, wahi pana and dwelling of Wakea. Mauna Kea is also “ceded” crown lands, and conservation lands protected in the Conservation District.

Wrong for the Mountain

It is clear that the law doesn’t allow for this level of industrial development on conservation lands, like Mauna Kea. Hawaii Administrative Rules (13-5-30(c)) outlines criteria that must be met before construction can be allowed on conservation lands in Hawaii.

The most telling for us are the middle three criteria, which state:

“4. The proposed land use will not cause substantial adverse impact to existing natural resources within the surrounding area, community, or region;

5. The proposed land use, including buildings, structures and facilities, shall be compatible with the locality and surrounding areas, appropriate to the physical conditions and capabilities of the specific parcel or parcels; [and]

6. The existing physical and environmental aspects of the land, such as natural beauty and open space characteristics, will be preserved or improved upon, whichever is applicable;”

The TMT can’t satisfy these criteria. This development (18 stories, 8 acre construction footprint) would multiply industrial land use on Mauna Kea, forever altering the natural beauty and sacred vista of the northern plateau.

Construction will impact fragile habitats of native plants and animals found only on Mauna Kea, with no guarantee of restoration when the lease term ends, in a mere 21 years.

How big is it?

– 184 ft. tall (18 stories), plus 20 ft. below ground
– Construction footprint: over 8 acres disturbed
– Completed structure footprint: over 5 acres
– Average American football field is 1.32 acres
– Telescope: 34,000 sq. ft.
– Support and office building: 21,000 sq. ft.
– Will excavate 64,000 cubic yards of summit area
– Will add 3,400 ft of new road, using excavated dirt to level it

What impact will it have?

– Construction proposed for the northern plateau, some of the last undeveloped area on the summit
– Structure will interrupt viewplane to Haleakala
– Will be visible from 14% of the island, including Waimea Park, Puu Kapu & Waawaa, Honokaa, & Puukohala
– Current telescopes are visible from 43% of the island
– Telescope operations will create 74 dbA of noise
– Will produce 120-250 cubic feet of solid waste a week
– Will use 5,000 gallon underground tank to store waste, including hazardous chemicals

The Final EIS for the project admits that telescope construction has had a substantial adverse impact on the natural and cultural resources of the conservation district on the summit. Here is a link to the developers’ description of the TMT: www.tmt.org.

Of course, the University Board of Regents sees the proposal as a done deal. The developers of this project have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in a massive PR campaign, assuring us that TMT will have little impact on the summit and that past problems with resource management have been fixed. But we know that this is not so.

Forty Years of Mismanagement

Forty years ago, the people of Hawaii agreed to share our highest and most sacred summit with a small community of UH astronomers–on the promise of protection and stewardship for fragile alpine habitats, endemic native species, and sacred cultural landscapes. Sadly, the promise to malama (care for) our sacred summit remains unfulfilled.

Today, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, several foreign governments, the U.S. federal government and military, and various development corporations have built or proposed to expand the footprint of industrial land use in the Mauna Kea conservation district.

The footprint of roads, buildings, parking, and ever-larger telescope complexes has grown and prospered, while natural and cultural resources have been irreplaceably lost, desecrated and destroyed. Today, even more development is proposed.

Mauna Kea is:

– Wao Akua, dwelling of Wakea

– Home of Poliahu and her sisters

– Used by cultural practitioners today

– Conservation district lands

– Above the main aquifer for the island

– “Ceded” crown lands

– Home to endemic native plants and animals,many found nowhere else on the planet

“For it is here that the very life breath can be seized in a moment never to return. It is only here that the life-giving waters originate. Only here do the heavens open so that man can be received, blessed, freed and transformed in the ways of Heaven.”

– from “Mauna Kea — The Temple”, Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Heiau Helu Elua, and Mauna Kea `Anainahou

Better Solutions Proposed, A Better Future Possible

We are asking for simple, common sense solutions for Mauna Kea, including: independent management (where developers do not approve their own projects), appropriate limits on development footprint based on study of summit carrying capacity, and appropriate compensation to the people of Hawai`i for past development.

Learn more

View, download and share the fact sheet on the Thirty Meter Telescope at http://bit.ly/TMTfactsheet or view and share it on Scribd.

See the Action Alert on KAHEA’s Blog

Learn more about Mauna Kea and efforts to protect conservation lands on Hawai`i’s sacred summits from industrial development and military land use.

February 22, 2011

The Army’s persistent Depleted Uranium problem in Hawai’i

Joan Conrow has written an excellent synopsis of the military’s depleted uranium (DU) contamination issue in Hawai’i on the Civil Beat website. Here’s an excerpt of her article:

The Army prohibited all training with DU in 1996; however, munitions containing DU remain in wide use.

Although the Army for years denied that it had ever used DU munitions in Hawaii, contractors found 15 tail assemblies from the M101 spotting rounds while clearing a firing range at Schofield Barracks in 2005. Even then the Army did not publicly disclose the presence of DU in Hawaii. The issue came to light inadvertently in 2006, when Earthjustice discovered communication about DU in Army e-mails subpoenaed as part of the ongoing litigation over the use of Makua as a live fire training facility.

The Army subsequently acknowledged that it trained soldiers on the Davy Crockett weapon in Hawaii and at least seven other states during the 1960s.

As a result, some residents have developed a deep distrust of the Army’s statements regarding DU, even though the Army maintains it is committed to transparency on the issue.

Impacts

It’s unclear how much DU is located in the Islands, or exactly where. Some 29,318 M101 spotting rounds containing 12,232 pounds of DU remain unaccounted for on American installations, according to the Army’s permit application. In Hawaii, the Army’s initial surveys were conducted at just three installations — Schofield, PTA and Makua — and the effort was severely limited by dense vegetation, rugged terrain and what the military characterized as “safety considerations” due to unexploded ordnance.

It’s also unclear just how DU may be affecting human health and the environment in Hawaii, as well as other parts of the world where it was used in combat. Its potentially severe and long-lasting impacts are the core of a growing controversy over its use on the battlefield and its presence in the Islands.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Here’s a related article from August 2010 on the Army’s application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an after-the-fact license to “possess” DU at ranges in Hawai’i.

February 18, 2011

Navy blows up projectile at Hapuna Beach

Honolulu Star Advertiser reports: “Navy today exploded a World War II 16-inch unfused projectile that was found in the waters off Hapuna Beach on the Big Island’s Kohala coast.”

…

“The Navy hasn’t been able to determine its age or origin”

…

“The southern half of Hapuna Beach had been closed since Monday while the northern half of the beach was open.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

February 15, 2011

Hapuna Beach shut down because of suspected ordnance

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reported today:

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources shut down Hapuna State Recreation area in Kona today after a county lifeguard spotted an object suspected of being unexploded ordnance.

Army ordnance experts were called in to investigate the cylindrical metal object partially buried in the sand. There is good reason to fear possible unexploded ordnance in this luxury resort area. For years the military used it as an impact range. It is one of dozens of old live fire ranges throughout Hawai’i. Unexploded ordnance have been removed from Hapuna beach on a number of occasions.

February 10, 2011

Generals clash on cause of April Osprey crash

Coming soon to Mokapu and Pohakuloa? Speak out against the Osprey invasion. We need a predator fence against these invaders.

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http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/01/air-force-generals-clash-on-osprey-crash-012211w/

Generals clash on cause of April Osprey crash

By Bruce Rolfsen – Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jan 22, 2011 10:12:48 EST

In a rare public display of disunity, two generals are at serious odds over the cause of a fatal aircraft accident.

The April 9 crash in Afghanistan was the first loss of a CV-22 Osprey in combat. Two of the three cockpit crew members — pilot Maj. Randell Voas, 43, and flight engineer Senior Master Sgt. James Lackey, 45 — died attempting a night landing at a desert landing zone. The co-pilot survived; he has not been indentified. Also killed were a soldier and a contractor — two of 16 passengers in the cargo compartment.

Brig. Gen. Donald Harvel, president of the accident investigation board, said he believes engine problems brought down the special operations Osprey on its landing approach. Lt. Gen. Kurt Cichowski, to whom Harvel answered during the investigation, argues aircrew errors caused the crash.

Harvel cited engine problems in his report; Cichowski wrote a dissent that he released with the report Dec. 15.

READ FULL ARTICLE

February 7, 2011February 9, 2011

Army clarifies its helicopter training operations for Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa

The Army must have been worried by the strong outcry against its proposed helicopter training on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. They issued the following press release to “clarify” its plans. Regardless of how the Army spins their intent, the public is clear that the HAMET is an expansion of military activity into a conservation area and a sacred site. While the Army plans do not seek to acquire additional land, it proposes to use public lands and airspace to conduct these new helicopter training in high altitude locations on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. With 133,000 acres of Hawaiian land already occupied by the military at Pohakuloa, the community will not tolerate any further expansion.

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http://www.hawaii247.com/2011/02/02/army-clarifies-its-helicopter-training-operations-for-mauna-kea-and-mauna-loa/

Army clarifies its helicopter training operations for Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa

Posted on 10:13 am, Wednesday, February 2, 2011.

MEDIA RELEASE

WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii – The U.S. Army‟s 25th Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) and U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii are reviewing the aviation training plan in response to comments, received from the Big Island community, on the proposed use of several landing zones on the slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

Issues arose this past week after several stories ran in island newspapers questioning what was perceived to be the Army‟s new requirement for land expansion and possible restrictions to the residents and visitors around Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

Public input was received during the 30-day comment period that is as part of the environmental assessment process in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969.

“The Army has no additional land expansion requirements and will impose no restrictions on anyone as a result of this revised environmental assessment,” said COL Frank W. Tate, commander of the 25th CAB. “The only land that will be impacted by the proposed Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa alternatives from this life-saving training is the pre-existing, 150 foot by 150 foot landing zones that we used from 2004 to 2007.”

The Army is taking full responsibility for what‟s being called “miscommunication” and looks forward to clearing up any confusion that it may have caused. The concern stems from specific graphics found in the environmental assessment showing large areas of the map depicting possible flight paths but labeled “project area” on the map‟s legend.

This caused significant concern of some Big Island residents, assuming the Army training would require more land.

“The graphics were not clear in what they portrayed,” said Tate. “They designate airspace, not land use, and they were designed to show that by utilizing those routes, we mitigate noise and any impact to the environment or the people on the Big Island.”

“The Aviation Brigade needs to utilize the small areas that the landing zones are on, nothing more,” said Col. Michael D. Lundy, deputy commander, 25th Infantry Division, referring to the previously mentioned 150 square foot landing zones. “We have a great partnership with the people of Hawaii and the last thing we want is to restrict them or disrupt their daily lives with our training.”

The aviation training in question is High Altitude Mountainous Environmental Training (HAMET). As part of the proposed action one of the alternatives requires that the CAB will use the same three landing zones on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa it used to train for a previous deployment to Afghanistan in 2004. The landing zones provide a realistic, rugged landscape that will match the altitudes, environmental conditions such as turbulence and wind shear that the 25th CAB pilots will face during an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. The CAB‟s pilots will have to operate in these demanding conditions while transporting life-saving equipment and troops to the frontlines of the Global War on Terror.

Another concern raised in reaction to the proposed assessment was the massive number of helicopters that would be filling the skies over the mountains. 25th Infantry Division Officials say that‟s simply not the case. “The original document poorly portrayed what the division wanted to do, and that‟s our fault,” said Maj. Dave Eastburn, a spokesperson for the 25th Infantry Division.

“The fact is, during this training, you‟ll only see two to four helicopters in the air at any given time. Additionally, the entire Brigade can be trained over the course of three, 15 day exercises, not including holidays or weekends as to not disrupt residents or visitors to the island,” Eastburn continued.

“The Army is committed to open decision-making to build the necessary community trust that sustains the Army in the long term and the NEPA process helps to facilitate that,” said William Rogers, U.S. Army Garrison NEPA program coordinator. “We advertised the proposed action in the local news papers and mailed the documents to the local libraries and agencies for review and comment.”

“The feedback was tremendous and we are currently considering all comments received. We are in the early stage of our review process and will keep the public informed”.

The commander of the Aviation Brigade is optimistic that the changes they are implementing now will allow training to be conducted in a manner that satisfies all interested parties. “I look forward to making this training a reality once again because the bottom line is: this training will save lives,” said Tate.

February 3, 2011April 21, 2011

Hawai’i Island Appeal for Solidarity

Activists from Hawai’i island issued an appeal for solidarity in the face of a massive military expansion planned for Pohakuloa. Please send solidarity statements to ja@interpac.net. Mahalo!

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For Public Release concerning U.S. military training at Pohakuloa
See list of individual signers below

Further contact: Jim Albertini 966-7622
Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622. Email ja@interpac.net http://www.malu-aina.org

Appeal for Solidarity!

We (the undersigned) appeal to all Hawaii peace, justice, environment, and independence activists, to the general public, and to local and state government officials. We ask that you stand in solidarity with us on Moku O Keawe in resistance to major U.S. military expansion at the 133,000-acre Pohakuloa Training Area, and now even helicopter assault training for Afghanistan on our sacred mountains –Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

We congratulate the Malama Makua community organization for its victory in stopping all military live fire in Makua Valley on Oahu. But Makua is still held hostage by the military and used to train for ongoing U.S. wars of aggression.

We are opposed to pushing U.S. desecration and contamination from one site to another. We want an end to U.S. occupation in Hawaii and the restoration of the Hawaii nation. We want the U.S. to stop bombing Hawaii and clean up its opala. We want to put an end to U.S. desecration and contamination of all sacred cultural sites. We do not want the U.S. training anywhere to do to others what the U.S. has already done to Hawaii: overthrow and occupy its government and nation, desecrate its sacred sites, and contaminate its air, land, water, people, plants, and animals with military toxins.

Restore the Hawaii Nation!

End U.S. Terrorism!
Military Clean-Up NOT Build Up!
Stop all the Wars! End all Occupations!

Signers
Isaac Harp, Kelii “Skippy” Ioane, Hanalei Fergerstrom,
Kihei Soli Niheu, Ali`i Sir Kaliko Kanaele, Calvin Kaleiwahea,
Lloyd Buell, Danny Li, Stephen Paulmier, Ronald Fujiyoshi,
Moanikeala Akaka, Tomas Belsky,
Samuel Kaleleiki, Jim Albertini