The Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the U.S. Army have declared that the Army will never bring back its destructive live-fire training at the Mākua Military Reservation. The decision follows 25 years of advocacy and litigation led by the Hawaiian Native group Mālama Mākua, with legal representation from Earthjustice.
Dozens of sacred and cultural sties are in the Mākua, Kahanahāiki, and Ko‘iahi valleys. (Nate Yuen, courtesy of Mālama Mākua)
Mākua Military Reservation includes three valleys—Mākua, Kahanahāiki, and Ko‘iahi—which are home to over 40 endangered and threatened species and dozens of sacred and cultural sites, including heiau (Hawaiian temples), burials, and petroglyphs.
But decades of live-fire training sparked wildfires that have destroyed native forest habitat, killing imperiled plants and animals. Bullets have pockmarked sacred sites, and…
Read the full article originally published at earthjustice.org.