Activists and Army
reach deal on MakuaThe accord limits use
of certain weapons for
two weeks of training
The Army and activist group Malama Makua have reached a deal allowing the 25th Infantry Division to resume live-fire training in Makua Valley on Monday.
The soldiers will be the first to return to the valley for training since a brush fire closed the range in July.
However, Earthjustice, which brokered the agreement with the Army over use of the valley, said soldiers will not be allowed to use mortars and artillery cannons for the next two weeks. Malama Makua and Earthjustice objected to live-fire training at Makua because they say it threatens the area's cultural sites and endangered species.
The agreement, which still must be approved by a federal court, modifies an October 2001 settlement by allowing the Army to conduct convoy ambush training in the valley in preparation for deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan next year.
"While we don't believe any military training is appropriate, we understand the Army's desire to make sure its soldiers are prepared to defend themselves," Malama Makua board member Sparky Rodrigues said.
Whether artillery cannons and mortars will be allowed beyond the next two weeks must be negotiated, said David Henkin, Earthjustice attorney.
"Live fire is key and essential to train our soldiers and leaders so they have the skills and experience to react to enemy fire while in a convoy," said Col. David Anderson, commander of U.S. Garrison Hawaii. "One of the most frequent types of combat action in Iraq and Afghanistan occurs during convoy operations. This fact makes our training in the Makua Military Reservation extremely relevant and significant. We must have the facilities to train the way we will fight in tough, realistic conditions that simulate those we will find in combat."
Training in the 4,190-acre military facility was halted in July when a "controlled" burn went out of control, scorching 2,100 acres instead of the planned 500 acres. The fire destroyed at least 71 endangered plants and 150 acres of designated critical habitat.
Since then, Earthjustice has threaten to sue because it says the Army has an inadequate fire protection plan. It also has forced the Army to begin further negotiations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on ways to better protect Makua's cultural sites and more than 40 endangered species living there.
Henkin said the modification to the 2001 settlement was needed because the Army wanted to change the way it uses Makua Valley.
Under the 2001 settlement, the Army was allowed to conduct 12 live-fire training operations each year using mortars and artillery, but convoy ambush exercises were not permitted.
However, with more than 8,000 soldiers destined for Iraq and Afghanistan next year, the Army decided it needed Makua to conduct that type of training to prepare 25th Division soldiers. The Pentagon said last month that 4,500 soldiers from the 25th Infantry will spend a year in Iraq starting in February, with an additional 3,500 soldiers heading to Afghanistan in April for a year.
Henkin said under the settlement, the 25th Division will be allowed to replace two of the 12 exercises with those involving convoy operations as long as mortars and artillery are not used. Only rifles and machine guns will be allowed to be fired during the convoy training exercises.
"We looked for a way to let the Army do this defensive training while limiting the potential to damage the cultural sites and native species that makes Makua so precious," Malama Makua's Rodrigues said.
Fred Dodge, a Malama Makua board member, said that as the Army assesses the continual need for Makua in an environmental impact statement, it should look for other places to carry out convoy exercises.
The Army suspended using Makua in September 1998 after several wildfires were started by munitions and Malama Makua filed a federal lawsuit demanding that the Army prepare an environmental impact statement.
A month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Malama Makua and the Army reached an agreement that allowed limited live-fire training in the valley if the Army prepared a detailed environmental impact statement, expected to be completed next year. The Army resumed training in Makua in January.