Honouliuli forest now a state reserve

The Honouliuli forest in the Wai’anae mountains is a treasure trove for native species, some of which are found nowhere else in the world. This is also an area where the Army condemned about 2000 acres as part of its Stryker brigade expansion. The Army has out planted endangered native plants in Honouliuli as part of its endangered species mitigation plan for Makua valley. Since Army training in Makua has destroyed most of the forest in Makua and endangered the remaining stands of native forest, the Army collected, grew and out planted specimens of endangered plants into the Honouliuli forest reserve several miles away on the other side of the Wai’anae mountains as insurance against extinction in Makua. Now Stryker expansion into the Honouliuli reserve may threaten the out plantings of endangered species.

The Army contributed $2.7 million from the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program toward the purchase of the land. The Army Compatible USe Buffer Program was established to support conservation zones near military training areas as a buffer against “encroachment” by human activity or residences. While the conservation sounds like a good idea, it helps the Army to continue its destructive training activities in adjacent lands. In the case of the Honouliuli reserve, the conservation land now “buffers” the severely impacted training areas in Lihu’e (Schofield Range), where important Native Hawaiian cultural complexes have been damaged, including the Haleauau Heiau, and where iwi kupuna (human remains) were recently desecrated by Army construction activities.

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http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100603/NEWS01/6030321/Oahu+s+Honouliuli+Forest+Reserve+now+state-protected

Posted on: Thursday, June 3, 2010

Oahu’s Honouliuli Forest Reserve now state-protected

Slopes above Kunia provide water, wildlife haven

By Eloise Aguiar

Advertiser Staff Writer

KUNIA — More than 3,500 acres of lowland forest in the Wai’anae Range that are a prime source of O’ahu’s drinking water and home to dozens of endangered species are now protected thanks to a purchase involving a federal, state and private partnership.

The Honouliuli Forest Reserve was purchased by the Trust For Public Land from the James Campbell Co. LLC and added to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ forest reserve for watershed and habitat protection.

The reserve served as a backdrop to a gathering in the Kunia foothills of the mountain range yesterday as about 200 people celebrated the completion of the five-year effort.

Dignitaries, staff of state and federal agencies, private organizations and volunteers attended, including U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, state Rep. Marcus Oshiro and Tad Davis, the Army deputy assistant secretary for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health.

‘Singing’ snails

The Trust For Public Land raised $4.3 million for the property: $2.7 million from the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program, $627,000 from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Recovery Land Acquisition Program and $980,000 from the Hawai’i Legacy Land Conservation Fund. The fund gets 10 percent of Hawai’i’s real estate conveyance tax.

“The most important reason why it’s worth preserving is because it feeds O’ahu’s largest drinking water aquifer ,” said Lea Hong, Hawaiian Islands program director for the Trust For Public Land. “The water we drink and use to water our plants and grow our crops comes from the Pearl Harbor aquifer, which is fed by this watershed at the Honouliuli Forest Reserve.”

The reserve is also home to 35 threatened and endangered species, including 16 found nowhere else in the world, Hong said. The O’ahu ‘elepaio, a bird that is a symbol of Hawaiian canoe making, lives there, along with the endangered “singing” kahuli tree snail, she said.

The goal of the Trust For Public Land is to conserve land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens and other natural places.

More expenses

In Hawai’i, it has helped preserve such places as Moanalua Valley, Pūpūkea-Paumalu and Ma’o Organic Farm. The Honouliuli purchase is among the organization’s largest on O’ahu.

Speakers at the event thanked the many people who worked to bring about the sale and preservation.

But Laura Thielen, who heads the DLNR, also challenged the policymakers to find ways to fund the management of the land.

The reserve will open new demands for trails, gathering places and cultural site access, Thielen said.

“We’re going to need your help,” she said. “You did such a wonderful job on the acquisition and I’d like to challenge all of you to spend the next 10 years on focusing on the management of these places.”

The Army spends about $500,000 a year on management of the land, and an endowment will be established at the Hawai’i Community Foundation to support the state’s management there. Pledges to the fund are $295,000 from The Nature Conservancy, $25,000 from the Gill Family Trusts and $25,000 from the Edmund C. Olson Trust.

Forest reviving

Tony Gill, of Gill Ewa Lands LLC, spoke for his family about a two-centuries-long journey for the reserve.

Some 200 years ago, the area was a thriving native forest, Gill said. By 150 years ago, with no eye toward conservation, the trees had been taken and the forest devastated. By the time the Campbells took over 130 to 140 years ago, most of the area was grass, he said.

The Campbells began to reforest the area and got help from the government and the Civilian Conservation Corps, he said. Today the mountain range is covered with forest, and water is returning, but the land isn’t as it once was, Gill said.

“Starting today and for the next 150 years, the Gill family and the Olson family, working with the state and DOFAW (DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife), will do what we can to replenish the mountainside as it once was with native species,” he said, “because that is where our heart is.”

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.

June 3, 2010

Video posted: Army desecration of burials angers Native Hawaiians

Army desecration of burials angers Native Hawaiians from kyle kajihiro on Vimeo.

The Army Stryker brigade expansion in Hawai’i was a 25,000 acre land grab, the largest military buildup since WWII. Many cultural sites were damaged or destroyed by the project despite community protest. Despite warnings that a vast cultural site complex would be harmed by the Army construction, on May 14, 2010, the Army unearthed human remains. Digging continued after the first bone was found. On May 27, 2010, Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners conducted a site visit to survey the desecration site.

May 28, 2010May 28, 2010

Army desecration of burials angers Native Hawaiians

Yesterday, a representatives of Native Hawaiian organizations and other supporters went on a site visit to the area in Lihu’e (Schofield range) where the Army desecrated the burials of at least two individuals, including an adult and a child. Poi pounders and other cultural implements were also found at the site.

The Army’s propaganda spin machine has sought to make the desecration into “protection” and a cultural access into “consultation”. The Honolulu Advertiser article at bottom is inaccurate. It states that “All work was immediately halted.” But this is a false statement.

After the first bone was unearthed, the contract archeologist working for Garcia and Associates (GANDA) ordered the earth moving work to continue for another half-hour until more bones were found, in violation of federal and state laws that require all activity to cease when bones are unearthed.

The desecration of the sites in Lihu’e is happening on a massive scale. But since these areas are in live fire ranges and off limits to civilians, the destruction is largely invisible to the public. Below is the press release from Native Hawaiians who visited the site and performed ceremony for the ancestors that had been unearthed by the Army.

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May 28, 2010

Hawaiian Community Angered by Desecration of Burials at Schofield Barracks

Lihuʻe, Oʻahu. Representatives from several organizations concerned over the U.S. Armyʻs recent disturbance of ʻiwi kupuna (ancestral remains) visited the site on Schofield Barracks where a cultural complex was disturbed by Stryker-related construction. They were told by Laurie Lucking, cultural resource manager for U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii, that the area where the ʻiwi kupuna was unearthed would be “closed forever.” But military construction and training continue to destroy many other cultural sites in a large expanse of land sacred to native Hawaiians.

Leimaile Quitevis, former cultural monitor who documented many of the sites in Lihu’e and a member of the Oʻahu Island Burial Council comments on the significance of the cultural site complex. “Hundreds of archaeological site features have been identified in the immediate vicinity of Stryker Brigade construction. In addition, more than 300 surface artifacts were collected by Army representatives. The massive amount of cultural properties located in this area help to paint the picture of the pre-contact land use of Lihue. The significance and importance of this landscape to Kanaka Maoli is limitless. Lihuʻe was once the ruling center of Oʻahu, hosting famous rulers and infamous battles. This history is important when evaluating and assessing the historic properties that have been identified. These sites are not isolated ‘archaeological sites.’ They are features, pieces of a puzzle, and parts of a whole. These sites are part of a complex that laments and praises the history and culture of our ancestors. Several bone fragments have been documented throughout the project area. None of these bones have ever been positively identified by a qualified osteologist. In addition clusters of artifacts are treated as isolated finds rather than actual sites. To date this project has damaged numerous petroglyphs, desecrated a minimum of two individual’s graves and breached the site protective measures of Haleauau Heiau.”

“The Army failed to do adequate cultural site investigations and consultations before drawing up and proceeding with its Stryker brigade plans,” said Summer Mullins a representative from Kipuka, one of the three native Hawaiian groups involved in the 2004 litigation against Stryker expansion. This was the first time that she and many others were given access to the area once recognized as the seat of government for Oʻahu aliʻi. In the past, groups had made several requests for access that were ignored or denied by the Army.

She added, “This desecration was completely avoidable. It was not an ʻinadvertent discovery,’ as the Army claims. They need to be held responsible for their actions. The Army failed to listen to the strong concerns raised by cultural monitors and community members years ago about the cultural importance of the Lihu’e area. Our wahi pana and wahi kapu are not appropriate training areas.”

“When our Kanaka Maoli people say do not disturb an area but their advice is not heeded, this does not constitute ‘proactive dialogue.’ Desecration was predictable. We are faced with the problem that the Army occupies a vast area that physically retains important cultural sites and burial grounds. No matter what, access to these sites must be guaranteed to our kanaka maoli people. It is their traditional right to visit, care for and continue passing on history to the next generation,” said Terri Keko’olani of the American Friends Service Committee.

Representatives were angered by the Armyʻs initial claim that they were protecting the discovery, as their actions painted a completely different picture. “The assertion that ‘all work was immediately halted’ is false. The contract archaeologist for Garcia and Associates (GANDA) ordered digging and grading to continue after the first ʻiwi was found, a violation of Federal and State laws that call for all activity to cease. Earth moving activity stopped only after more bones were exposed,” added Leimaile Quitevis.

According to Tom Lenchanko, spokesperson for lineal descendants of the area, “The families object to any process where our human remains are damaged, with no sensitivity to the lands of our Lo Aliʻi – Lihuʻe, Wahiawa and Helemano encompassing over 35,000 acres that is Kukaniloko. This is our national treasure. Our kupuna are all over that aina, and the military is blatantly disrespecting our ancestral burial sites.”

“This is Hawaiian land, we all know that the US military has no moral or legal authority over our lands or resources,” said Andre Perez of Hui Pu. “Relocating the bones of our ancestors for warfare training is unacceptable. It is the military who needs to relocate.”

Noelani DeVincent, kumu hula and member of the Wahiawa Hawaiian Civic Club was heartbroken to see this sacred place ripped apart, “It was a really emotional experience to see such a huge wrong being done towards our people. It is our kuleana to right this wrong, but how can we trust the Army will take care of this place?”

Leimaile Quitevis added “Our kupuna are calling us to look to the lands of Lihuʻe. We must kukulu kumuhana (pull our strengths) and work together to defend the bones of our ancestors and the rich history of this ʻāina.”

Other participants in the cultural access include Kai Markell and Kamoa Quitevis of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, William Aila of Hui Malama i Na Kupuna, Melva Aila of Hui Malama o Makua, and Kyle Kajihiro of the American Friends Service Committee.

Photo by Kai Markell at Lihu’e complex, Schofield Barracks. Many significant cultural sites are being destroyed by current Stryker-related construction.

Photo by Kai Markell at Lihuʻe complex, Schofield Barracks. Concerned Native Hawaiianʻs and community members inspect damage to cultural sites caused by Stryker-related construction.

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http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100528/NEWS25/5280343/Army+consults+agencies++on+relocation+of+bones

Posted on: Friday, May 28, 2010

Army consults agencies on relocation of bones

Advertiser Staff

Army officials yesterday said they invited representatives from the State Historic Preservation Division, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, O’ahu Burial Council, ‘Ahu Kukaniloko and Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai’i Nei to visit a Schofield Barracks construction site where human remains were discovered earlier this month.

“Now that the remains have been found, the decision must be made whether the remains should stay where they were found, or whether they should be relocated to a more appropriate site where they would not be disturbed again,” Laurie Lucking, cultural resource manager for U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii, said in a statement.

Lucking said the remains were found in an Army training area where military vehicles will be operating and performing exercises “and we are seeking recommendations from the representatives on this matter.”

The Army said it will publish a general notice to allow claimants an opportunity to consult with the Army on the final disposition of the remains once a decision is made on whether to move the remains from their location.

An Army-contracted cultural monitor from Garcia and Associates was on site when a single bone fragment was found on May 14 in a mound of earth that had recently been excavated. All work was immediately halted.

May 20, 2010

Army finds human remains at Oahu base

http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/531657.html?nav=5031

Army finds human remains at Oahu base

By AUDREY McAVOY, The Associated Press

POSTED: May 19, 2010

HONOLULU – Army contractors discovered human remains believed to be ancient Hawaiian while workers were excavating at a Schofield Barracks construction site, officials said Tuesday.

The Army hasn’t determined the remains are Hawaiian, but it’s assuming they are just to be safe as it investigates the site. William Aila of the group Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawaii Nei said the fragility and deteriorated state of the bones indicate they’re ancient, and thus Hawaiian.

Cultural and archaeological monitors hired by the Army to look out for bones and cultural artifacts found the remains Friday as workers were using a front-end loader to level and clear land for the construction of a training site.

A forensic anthropologist from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command confirmed the bones were human Saturday.

It’s important in Hawaiian culture to leave bones undisturbed because of the belief that people infuse their life force into the ground once they are buried. Since this process isn’t finished until the bones have dissolved, digging them up interrupts a person’s journey in the afterlife.

Aila said the disturbed remains should be put back where they were found so the individual can continue on his or her journey.

”It’s like being ripped from the dark and put back into the bright sunlight where they don’t belong,” he said.

The equivalent for Christians, Aila said, would be ”somebody reaching their hand up into heaven and pulling your spirit down from heaven.”

Aila said the Army should rebury the bones, or iwi, screen the disturbed dirt for additional remains and stop digging in the area. After the remains are reinterred, the Army should hold a ceremony to apologize to the individual whose bones were dug up, he said.

The Army has fenced off about 500 square feet around the spot where the bones were found and has halted all further construction at the site.

”It’s all about the investigation – not about the work – and doing the right thing, handling the remains with respect and dignity,” said Loran Doane, a spokesman for Army Garrison-Hawaii. ”That’s what our focus is on.”

David Henkin, an Earthjustice lawyer who has repeatedly sued the Army over protection of Hawaiian cultural sites, said the case was an example of threats faced by such resources.

”It certainly illustrates the risk of harm to cultural remains when the Army goes forward with activities in the very sensitive areas that it controls,” Henkin said.

May 18, 2010

Army Stryker construction disturbs Native Hawaiian burials in Schofield

Stryker brigade expansion project disturbed Native Hawaiian Burials (iwi kupuna) in the Lihu’e / Schofield Barracks area. Community groups told the Army that the entire area was culturally significant and needed to be protected from military activity. Native Hawaiian cultural monitors rediscovered the Hale’au’au Heiau that the Army had listed as destroyed. This put a cramp on their plans for the Stryker expansion. As as result the cultural monitors were removed from the project. Now new cultural monitors have identified the bones of iwi kupuna. The Army must stop the Stryker project. It is a corrupt, destructive and wasteful project that is driven by political motives to entrench the Army in Hawai’i. Strykers Out of Hawai’i!

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From: Doane, Loran Mr CIV US USA IMCOM [mailto:Loran.Doane@us.army.mil]

Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 1:28 PM

Subject: Army Protects Discovery at Schofield (UNCLASSIFIED)

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Caveats: FOUO

Release number: 2010-05-06

May 18, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Army Protects Discovery at Schofield

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii – Army-contracted archaeological and cultural monitors discovered suspected human remains on a Schofield Barracks construction site, Friday, while supervising a routine ground excavation.

Army archaeologists and cultural resource specialists were immediately dispatched to the site to make an initial determination as to whether the remains were likely human. Dr. James Pokines, forensic anthropologist with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, confirmed on Saturday that the remains were indeed human.

Protective fencing has been erected in the area, and all construction activities at the site have been halted until further notice.

Procedures in the form of an “Inadvertent Discovery Plan” were in place and put into action, with site identification, protection and notifications to the Hawaii State Historic Preservation Office (HSHP) and the Oahu Burial Council (OBC).

“Anytime there is construction taking place and in which digging occurs,there is always a possibility that one could encounter an unexpected find,” said Laurie Lucking, Cultural Resource manager for U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii. “It is for this reason that we have contingency plans and procedures in place so that finds like this can be treated with the utmost dignity and respect.”

The Army will continue to work closely with the necessary state and federal agencies, to ensure compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in order to protect and preserve Hawaii’s rich historical and cultural heritage.

–30–

MEDIA NOTE: Media who would like should contact Loran Doane, Media Relations chief, U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii Public Affairs at (808) 656-3157 or cell (317)-847-2222.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Caveats: FOUO

March 27, 2010

Federal stimulus money stimulating more militarization in Hawai’i

Federal stimulus money stimulating more militarization, “a perfect example of how the stimulus program is supposed to work.”

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http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100327/BREAKING01/100327012/Missile+range+gets+new+runway+thanks+to+stimulus+money

Updated at 6:38 a.m., Saturday, March 27, 2010

Missile range gets new runway thanks to stimulus money

The Garden Island

LIHU’E, Kauai — Just in time for this summer’s RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) international war games, the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands near Kekaha has a brand-new runway.

According to a Navy press release, the project, completed March 23, is the first Navy project in Hawai’i completed using federal funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The contract was awarded by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawai’i, out of Pearl Harbor on O’ahu.

“The extensive work completed on the airfield has ensured that PMRF will remain mission-ready for the next 25 years,” said Capt. Aaron Cudnohufsky, PMRF commanding officer.

“This project was extremely successful, representing a great partnership between the contractor, NAVFAC Hawai’i and PMRF to complete the project ahead of schedule and within budget.”

NAVFAC Hawai’i awarded the $20.7 million contract to Bulltrack-Watts construction, a joint-venture based in Marysville, Calif., to cut into the existing runway and taxiway as deep as four feet and resurface it with new asphalt concrete pavement.

The project also called for the sealing of existing cracks and re-striping of the runway with retro-reflective white paint.

The project was originally scheduled to be completed by April 4. However, some sections like the tower parking apron and the runway were turned over as soon as they became operational in January and February.

Final acceptance by PMRF was made March 23, the release states.

“This project is a perfect example of how the stimulus program is supposed to work,” said Vincent Fragomene, construction manager Bulltrack-Watts JV.

“We were able to provide a source of revenue for many local businesses on Kaua’i, as well as provide an opportunity for many local construction tradesmen to work during these trying economic times.”

Four local companies were subcontracted to complete the job, three from Honolulu and one from Lihu’e, the Lihu’e firm being Concrete Cutting & Coring, whose employees saw-cut and cold-mill-planed the deteriorating old runway, the release states.

Grace Pacific Corporation provided two crews for repaving. Henry Asato Painting provided a painting crew, and A.M.F. Surveying sent out an assessment team.

See www.navfac.navy.mil for more information about NAVFAC Hawai’i or Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

The Naval Facilities Engineering Command manages the planning, design, construction, contingency engineering, real estate, environmental, and public works support for U.S. Navy shore facilities around the world.

NAVFAC is a global organization with an annual volume of business in excess of $18 billion. As a member of the Navy and Marine Corps team, NAVFAC delivers facilities engineering solutions worldwide.

Additional updates and information about NAVFAC can be found on Facebook (www.facebook.com/navfac) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/navfac), the release states.

March 26, 2010

Hawai’i military contractors defend earmarks

Feeling threatened by a recent bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to cut off earmarks to for-profit corporations, one of the big beneficiaries of earmarks in Hawai’i, Trex is trying to argue their case. But why is Trex on Kaua’i? It’s not to bring economic opportunity or “ministries” to Kaua’i. Trex is one of a number of military companies that flocked to Hawai’i after the missile defense floodgates were opened by the Cochran-Inouye bill. Trex participates in the expanded missile defense and other military tech systems being tested and developed on Kaua’i with earmarks pumped in by Senator Inouye. The military is taking over Kaua’i. Full spectrum dominance on the bones of ancient Hawaiians. It already controls 1,100 square miles of instrumented underwater range and more than 42,000 square miles of controlled airspace. The shoreline at Nohili is closed to the general public, and rumors are circulating of cutting off access to Polihale Beach.

Here’s an example of how the earmarks-militarization-dispossession of Hawaiian lands happens. The Hawaii Technology Development Venture (HTDV), a nonprofit project headed by Harold Masumoto was a product of the Project Kai e’e / UARC earmarks scandal. Earmarks by Senator Inouye are directed to HTDV via the Office of Naval Research. HTDV then issues requests for proposals and awards small grants to small tech companies to perform research and development on technologies that fit the Navy’s interest areas. Essentially public funds are being used as venture capital for small tech companies in Hawai’i in support of military objectives. But the awards are being made by a nonprofit that is not directly under federal control. This is precisely where the lack of oversight and accountability has led to problems in the past. A recent RFP by the HTDV asks for proof of concept demonstrations of remote security measures for the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kaua’i, using small business innovation “to improve the installations ability to monitor and respond to the flight line area by implementing novel and innovative security countermeasures with the intention to deter, detect, prevent, and identify potential threats” while denying access to traditional users of the sand dunes and ocean area.

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http://www.starbulletin.com/editorials/20100325_earmarks_help_fill_strategic_gaps.html

Earmarks help fill strategic gaps

By David E. Kane

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 25, 2010

I am responsible for a high-tech, 24/7 manufacturing operation on Kauai. We employ 24 people, 22 of whom were hired locally. About two-thirds of our ohana have no college degree. Because of the nature of our business, we are fortunate to be able to provide a wage and benefit package far in excess of typical employment opportunities here on Kauai. Without the earmark process in general, and Sen. Dan Inouye in particular, we wouldn’t be here. We would probably be “over there” somewhere, benefiting some other community, maybe not even a U.S. community.

Our product is a unique-in-the-world ceramic material that provides solutions to issues in both Department of Defense and commercial applications. Without small, nimble, innovative firms like ours, the DoD would lack adequate innovative resources. The big prime contractors no longer spend such development money. They look to buy innovation from small firms like us.

The budget submitted to the Congress each year by the president continues the practice of recent decades to seek fiscal accountability by reducing R&D spending. Thankfully there are those in the Congress like Sen. Inouye who recognize that such strategic gaps need to be filled and can marry the filling of those gaps for the country with local imperatives like economic diversification.

In the DoD world, we are providing solutions to prime defense contractors and the government, primarily in the areas of aeronautical and aerospace applications, most having to do with defense of the homeland. In the commercial world, we are a 100-percent exporter from Hawaii with about 15 percent of those exports going outside the U.S. to Europe and Asia.

Finally, I’d like to mention an important and gratifying byproduct of the earmark process — at least here in Hawaii under Sen. Inouye’s leadership. In no small part due to his example, our company enjoys a culture that is heavy on community service. Our employees spend countless hours in the community serving in a variety of ministries. Would we have developed such a culture without having known Sen. Inouye? Perhaps. But one thing is certain: It is impossible to spend any amount of time around the senator without being inspired to use your talents to serve.

One more thing: Our operation here on Kauai does not make political contributions. As to what individual employees do in that regard, we know not nor care not. It is never discussed.

David E. Kane is general manager of Trex Advanced Materials in Lihue, Kauai.

March 20, 2010

Tiananmen in Nawiliwili

http://informationfarm.blogspot.com/2010/03/kauai-superferry-chronicles.html

Kauai | The Superferry Chronicles

Although most people are not aware of it, the USA has an image which is similar to the scene from Tiananmen Square. Fortunately this David and Goliath event did not end in the loss of life and the citizens were successful.

August 2007—Hawaii—A new Superferry transporting cars and people from island to island was stopped from docking on the island of Kauai and turned back. Residents of the island gathered along the shore to protest, some jumped in the water joining the surfers, kayaks and outrigger canoes in Nawiliwili harbor blocking the huge ship from entering.

Police and SWAT team members mingled with the onshore protesters and Coast Guard boats, one with military personnel manning large 40-caliber guns on deck, threatened the surfers and canoeists. The Coast Guard patrol boat even attempted to pass through the blockade nearly running over unarmed individuals in the water.

The Superferry was a Trojan horse. It was camouflaged as a means of transportation for the residents of Hawaii but the dark secret was that it’s actual use was for hidden military purposes which meant big dollars in future military government contracts for the owners of the Superferry.

The joint high-speed vessel “is a strategic transport vessel designed to support the rapid transport of military troops and equipment in the U.S. and abroad” —statement from the Army Environmental Command.

Hawaii is the center for the largest military command on the Earth—US Pacific Command (USPACOM).

The ferry is really a prototype for warships in potential military clashes with China. The plan is to save money for the Pentagon and the Navy and secure project ownership for its major investor, the former Navy Secretary. The prototype is to be built and launched not as a military ship, but as a civilian ferry.

In secret, military planners in the Pentagon design a company to be eventually run by the former secretary of the Navy and staffed by high ranking ex-military officers. The company operates military vessels disguised as civilian inter-island ferries and eventually reaps vast sums in military contracts. Sadly, this is how modern military officers create enormous wealth and power for themselves after their military careers all the time covering their greed by pontificating that they defending the nation from outside threats.

“The lead investor in the Superferry project (nearly $90 million) and new chair of the board for this ‘local’ ferry project was New York City military financier John Lehman, Ronald Reagan’s secretary of the Navy, a leading neocon with a famously aggressive military vision. (The Washington Post quoted him in 1984 as advocating first-strike nuclear strategies.) Lehman is a member of the Project for the New American Century and a 9/11 commissioner, but his great passion has been pushing for a vastly expanded, 600-ship Navy and a stronger US military presence in the Pacific to assuage mounting concerns about China as a future military superpower. After his company, J.F. Lehman, took over the Superferry project, Lehman appointed a new board with a majority of former top military brass. He later hired Adm. Thomas Fargo as CEO. Only four years ago Fargo was the commander of US military operations in the Pacific, answering directly to George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. So the question is this: why on earth would anyone need a board that qualifies as a mini-Pentagon to run a friendly transport for families and papayas between islands?” read the entire article at The Nation

Environmentalists called for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its Hawaii equivalent (HEPA) but the Hawaii Superferry Company, with strong support from Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, refused.

When the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling demanded the boat suspend operations until it completed an EIS, Governor Lingle and Lehman’s Superferry company continued operations.

To allow the Superferry to operate in Hawaii without an Environmental Impact Statement and to sell the idea to the public, the help of the Governor was required. Most likely, members of the military and powerful interests offered Governor Lingle secret backroom deals which may include national political office. She later appeared at the Republican convention introducing vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. (A case of one unknown governor introducing another unknown governor.)

Governor Lingle’s actions regarding the ferry, such as defying the Hawaii Supreme Court, getting the legislature to authorize a $40 million loan to the Superferry company and telling citizens of Kauai that if they protested within the ‘security zone’ established by Homeland security law they “would be charged under new anti-terrorism laws that carry prison terms up to five years and/or a $10,000 fine”, indicate that she felt she had powerful backing.

The Superferry company received $140 million in federal government guaranteed loans. If the ferry turnes out to be a commercial failure its owners are off the hook and the taxpayers will repay the loan. In the twisted logic of today’s world, the federal loan specifically prohibits an EIS as part of the loan agreement even though the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires it.

Presently, the Superferry has stopped all service in Hawaii and posted the following on its website which comfirms it’s true military purpose.

For the present time, the Hawaii Superferry will no longer offer service in Hawaii due to a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that struck down a new law allowing service without an Environmental Impact Report.

The Alakai will be used for other commercial service or military use in the future until an EIS has been successfully obtained (if this is possible.)

March 11, 2010March 11, 2010

Mordor on Kaua’i?

Thanks to Juan Wilson on Kaua’i for the following post on his blog Island Breath. He compares Navy plans for Nohili, site of the Pacific Missile Range Facility, to Mordor, the land seeking to enslave the rest of humanity in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Indeed, the military’s objective with missile defense and its other advanced technologies is nothing short of “full spectrum dominance”, which corresponds to the all-seeing eye of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings. There are plans to adopt coastal zone management plans for Nohili which could severely disrupt the marine and coastal environment, cultural practices and recreational activity. See Juan’s post below for information on submitting comments.

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http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/

Navy plans for Mordor

POSTED: 3/10/2010 EDITOR: Juan Wilson

SUBHEAD: The Navy has chosen death over life in the struggle for the future.

Image above: Near Mount Doom sits Mordor with its flaming eye searching the world for anything it can destroy. Composite illustration from GoogleEarth and New Age Cinema images by Juan Wilson. Click to enlarge.

[Editor’s Note: Besides testifying by March 22nd on this issue, you can join us for an antiwar demonstration on Kaujai on Saturday, March 13th – see link for times and places.]

By Juan Wilson on 10 March 2010 –

By now it should be clear to all… the intention of the United States is to turn the entire Earth into a military base for its operations, ensuring the unhindered extraction of resources and wealth from others. If that sounds ridiculous, you might as well stop reading right now and go find what you would rather hear somewhere else.

If you don’t believe me, just follow the trajectory of the plans of the PMRF here on Kauai since 9/11/2001 (this line of research can be expanded to include the basing of the Stryker Brigade in Hawaii and Superferry/JHSV fiasco).

Here on Kauai the 2004 Mana Plain land grab by the Navy gave them control over the 6000 acres of the Mana plain. It set the stage for expansion of several strategic projects that help cement US military domination in the Pacific and will ultimately make billions for a handful of US military contractors (Ratheon, ITT, General Dynamics, etc.).

These new projects will require the design, testing and refinement of new missile systems. New Telecommunications facilities will be needed; new launchpads, new tracking stations, new targets and all the rest that is needed to expand the weaponization of this island.

The plans for the Mana Plain indicate the further erosion of the public’s access to Polihale State Park. There will be times when it will simply be unavailable to the public. There will be security sweeps to make sure of that whenever it is required. If you could avoid being dragged away you might be crushed be the soundwaves of the tests that are envisioned. Below is a detail section from Figure 3.1.1.1.9-1 of the PMRF Intercept Test Support Coastal Zone Management Act Review Document. Note that during test all of Polihale State Park will be subject to at least 92 dbA of sound energy. The southern end of the park could get over 100dbA.

Image above: Detail of Fig. 3.1.1.1.9-1 showing anticipated test sound levels.

This would hardly be anything to worry about compared to the danger of a missile exploding at low altitude over the launch site. The hazardous area surrounding the planned launch site has a 6000 foot and 10,000 foot radius marked on Figure 3.1.1.1.7-1. More than half of Polihale State Park falls within these circles. Below a detail of that figure is reproduced. Note that the area hatched in black vertical lines is the Restrictive Easement area. When this area is activated it will simply cut the State Park off from the rest of the island. Anyone within the area will be extracted.

Image above: Figure 3.1.1.1.7-1 defining the hazard and restricted area created by the planned test facility.

Call it Dr Strangelove, Star Wars, The Death Star, or Mordor. What it comes down to is the cynical investment of all our nation has left in the forces of destruction. Instead to saving the megafauna of the Pacific (whales, dolphins and monk seals), we choose to challenge them. Instead of restoration of the coral reefs and protection of photoplankton in our oceans, we have chosen to to ignore problems that could lead to the death of the oceans.

We in Hawaii are not the only islands being dominated in this way. Guam, and Diego Garcia are totally under the heel of the US military as crucial strategic bases. On Diego Garcia, for their convenience, the Navy even forced all the native people off the island.

It is interesting that the Navy chose as the strategic location for their effort the stretch of land between the Mana Plain to Makaha Ridge (and beyond). Centered there is Polihale. From wikipedia there is this… “This beach has a strong basis in Hawaiian mythology. Polihale means ‘House of the Po’, and Po is the Hawaiian afterworld. Spirits travel to the coastal plain adjacent to the shore, and stay in the temple (heiau) at the end of the beach. From there, they climb the cliffs to the north, jump off into the sea to get to the mythical Po. So strong was this belief that all the homes built on the Mana Plain would have no east facing doors, so that a traveling spirit could not become trapped within.” I don’t imagine the Navy has made that consideration as part of their plans for Barking Sands and Makaha Ridge.

I am not a religious person, and I don’t consider myself superstitious… but Polihale is the at the center of my spiritual life, and has been for many years. I cannot shake off the idea that the Navy and its weapons developers, as well as the GMO corporations and their subcontractors, have bit off more than they can chew with the abominations that they encourage in Mana. Kauai may shake them off like fleas off a dog when the time comes.

Your comment deadline is March 22, 2010.

Federally mandated deadlines require that comments be received by the 22 March 2010. Send comments to Office of Planning, Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Planning Office Hawaii DBEDT
P.O. Box 2359, Honolulu, HI 96804
email: jnakagaw@dbedt.hawaii.gov
fax: (808) 587-2899

INFORMATION:
For general information about CZM federal consistency, please call John Nakagawa at 587-2878 or the CZM staff person listed below.

For neighbor islands call toll-free:
Kauai: 274-3141 x72878,
Lanai & Molokai: 468-4644 x72878,
Maui: 984-2400 x72878, or
Hawaii: 974-4000 x72878.

March 6, 2010March 6, 2010

Campaign cash, earmarks and corruption

There has been increased scrutiny of earmarks and campaign contributions by companies that received earmarks and their lobbyists. Military contractors are among the biggest beneficiaries of earmarks. Why hasn’t someone investigated the earmarks related to Hawai’i politicians? Senator Inouye consistently proclaims that he is the “King of Pork”. His earmarks have been linked to some very questionable programs.

Naval Criminal Investigation Service investigated allegations of fraud and conflicts of interest related to Inouye-earmarked military research programs such as Cooperative Engagement Capability Pre-Planned Product improvement (CECP3I), Modular Command Center (MCC) / Modular Mobile Command and Control (M2C2), UESA radar, and Tactical Component Network (TCN). These projects were part of a scheme to establish a military research center run through the Research Corporation of the University of Hawai’i and based at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kaua’i, which went by various names including Project Kai e’e and Pacific Research Institute. Office of Naval Research program director Mun Won Chang Fenton was involved in the awarding of earmark-funded projects, including MCC, TCN, UESA and the Pacific Resarch Institute proposals. At the same time, she was involved in creating the Project Kai e’e / Pacific Research Institute proposal submitted via the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH) to her own funding program. According to NCIS reports, she helped to orchestrate the award of contract N00421-02-D-3151 to RCUH to establish the Pacific Research Institute (PRI). She then got Navy-directed grant employees of RCUH to favorably review the PRI Executive Director job application of Paul S. Schultz, a Navy admiral she allegedly had an affair with and is now married to. The funding was turned down by RCUH Executive Director Harold Masumoto at the last moment. Schultz was offered the PRI Executive Director position but never accepted. It was as if someone with inside knowledge of the investigation had tipped them off. No conviction ensued. The investigation wrapped up and was shelved by the Navy. Chang Fenton continued to work for the Navy, but it is unclear if she was ever disciplined for her actions. Schultz retired at the reduced rank of captain and heads up a tech company in Hawai’i called Hawaiya, which continues to receive military and homeland security contracts, including a number of earmarks. Ah, politics, Hawai’i style.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030504304_pf.html

In e-mails, lobbyists perceive ties between campaign cash, earmarks

By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 6, 2010; A03

Lobbyists and corporate officials talked bluntly in e-mail exchanges about connections between making generous campaign donations and securing federal funds through members of an important House Appropriations subcommittee, according to not-yet-public documents reviewed by ethics investigators.

In summer 2007, for example, senior executives at a small McLean defense firm tried to figure out which of them would buy a ticket to a wine-tasting fundraiser for Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), a member of the Appropriations subcommittee on defense. At the time, the company sought help from Moran’s office in securing contracts through special earmarks added to the defense bill.

In an e-mail exchange, one senior officer said he didn’t understand why he had to attend the fundraiser when he didn’t even drink wine.

“You don’t have to drink,” Innovative Concepts’ chief technology officer, Andrew Feldstein, shot back in an e-mail. “You just have to pay.”

“LOL,” responded the other officer.

The fundraiser was hosted by the PMA Group, a powerful lobbying firm whose unusual success in obtaining “earmarked” contracts from members of the military subcommittee was a key focus of a recent House ethics investigation.

Moran raked in $91,900 in campaign checks to his personal campaign and leadership PAC that day. He secured an $800,000 earmark for Innovative Concepts in the 2008 defense appropriations bill.

The e-mails were among the documents reviewed by congressional ethics investigators over the past nine months in a wide-ranging earmarks probe. The investigation ended last week when the House ethics committee issued a report exonerating all seven members under scrutiny. The Washington Post gained access to some of those internal records.

Moran spokeswoman Emily Blout said the congressman “has no control over communications among lobbyists or with their clients regarding any false perceptions they might be operating under.”

An investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics uncovered dozens of examples of lobbyists and corporate officers expressing their belief that donations would help them. The OCE declined to share or discuss the documents reviewed by The Post. An OCE spokesman said such records would not be made public unless they directly linked donations with lawmakers’ official acts.

(The OCE had recommended clearing five of the members and continuing to investigate two others, Reps. Peter J. Visclosky [D-Ind.] and Todd Tiahrt [R-Kan.]. The more senior House ethics panel cleared all seven.)

“These are hard-nosed business people,” said Sarah Dufendach of Common Cause. “They are used to getting value for their dollar. The reason they keep investing their money this way is because over and over again it’s proven to work for them.”

Feldstein, who is now a semi-retired consultant to Innovative Concepts, said in an interview that campaign donations help a company become a “known face” with influential lawmakers. “Those events are really mingling events. It’s unfortunate you have to pay for them, but that’s the way it is,” said Feldstein, who gave to the Moran campaign.

When PMA lobbyists talked to defense clients, they often urged them to give to powerful members of the Appropriations subcommittee — and occasionally reminded the clients about earmarks won or being sought from those lawmakers.

Inside the Arlington County-based defense firm Argon ST, Gabrielle Carruth, a former staffer to the late Rep. John P. Murtha, worked as the company’s chief lobbyist. She urged Argon executives to donate corporate and personal money to Murtha — the panel’s chairman — and mentioned earmarks in her pitch.

“As a company, Congress helped us out with 29.6 million dollars of enhancements, most coming from Mr. Murtha. He was having one last fundraiser at the Army and Navy club Tuesday. I really could use your help with a contribution,” Carruth wrote in a September 2008 e-mail to a colleague.

Murtha (D-Pa.), who had been dubbed the King of Pork by his critics, was interviewed by investigators and told them that he didn’t make any connections to donations when requesting earmarks for companies. Murtha said his staff made earmark decisions, which he usually rubber-stamped.

But some company officials chafed at the steady stream of donations that their lobbyists and others urged them to make.

“Tell me again: Why do I have to go a Joyce Murtha breast cancer charity event?” asked one senior defense company official.

In considering making a $20,000 company donation to Visclosky, one executive asked for a justification.

The firm’s vice president mentioned Visclosky’s past earmark support at a time when the company was seeking more help from the congressman. “That’s what each of the companies working with PMA and Visclosky have been asked to contribute,” the executive wrote. “We have gotten 10M in adds from him.”

Lobbyists and lawmakers’ staff members were also direct at times about the donation totals.

Carruth, when writing to Moran’s campaign staff about a fundraiser the company was hosting for the lawmaker, asked the finance director of Moran’s Virginia Leadership PAC how much Moran was seeking in donations. Carruth now works in government affairs for Lockheed and, through the company’s press office, declined to comment.

“So what is expected of Argon as host?” Carruth wrote.

“Jim was expecting 10K,” Hannah Margetich wrote back.