Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 9, 1 September 2003 — Mākua fire set by Army sparks community reaction [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mākua fire set by Army sparks community reaction

By Sterling Kini Wong On July 22, the U.S. Army lost control of a "prescribed burn" in Mākua Valley, causing a fire that left more than half the valley charred, burned numerous endangered species and added fuel to the resolve of many community members who believe that the Army should cease its military operations and leave the valley. "We feel like we've been had," former OHA Trustee Frenchy DeSoto said at a community briefing on Aug. 3, as smoke from a residual fire billowed from a ridge in the valley. "The truth is they couldn't contain [the burn]. It is virtually impossible at this point to trust the military. I say that with regret. Enough is enough." The disastrous fire represents another conflict in the 60-year struggle between community members and the military that began during World War II when the military evicted Mākua residents and reneged on its promise to return the land within six months of the end of the war. The military halted its live-fire training for three years beginning in September 1998 as the result of a lawsuit filed by community members, but renewed training in October 2001 to meet military readiness requirements and to prepare soldiers for deployment in Afghanistan. Col. David Anderson, commander of the U.S. Garrison Hawai'i, said that the burn was conducted by the Army as a "good faith effort" to comply with its October 2001

settlement agreement with the eommunity group Mālama Mākua. He said the purpose of the burn was to increase community access to cultural sites and to identify unexploded ordinance for removal. The burn was meant to clear 800900 acres of dry guinea grass within the fire break road. But three hours after the burn was ignited, the winds suddenly increased and changed direction, and the fire jumped the fire-break road, crossed over Farrington Highway, climbed the northern mountain ridge and seared 2,100 acres before being contained on the afternoon of July 24. 71 endangered plants, whieh include individuals of akoko, nehe and kulu'i, were burned in the blaze, as well as approximately 150 acres of O'ahu 'Elepaio Critical Habitat and six acres of O'ahu Plant

Critical Habitat on adjoining state land. The Army contends that the fire did not affect any individual 'elepaio, tree snails (both are endangered) or pueo (federally listed as a species of eoneem). According to Laurie Lucking, Army cultural resource manager, the burn had little impact on previously surveyed archaeological sites due to the military's proactive measures of regulating grass height around those sites. She said three previously unrecorded sites were discovered as a result of the bum. However, many of the more than 100 community members at the briefing opposed the practice of conducting burns and voiced their concems. Issues were raised such as inhaling toxins released from ordinance set off by the fire and alien

predators being chased into the valley by the fire and encroaching on the native species' already shrinking habitat. William Aila, of Hui Mālama o Mākua, said the Army has failed in its capacity as stewards of the land. He said the last three "controlled fires" conducted by the Army in Mākua failed because two burned out of control and one only burned 60 out of a planned 600 acres. Aila also mentioned that a year ago the military found an endangered species in Mākua that they did not know existed in the valley. He questioned how many endangered species the military was not cognizant of burned in the fire. "How ean you say without a shadow of a doubt that you surveyed every nook and cranny and there were no snails, or no 'elepaio or other endangered species impacted by this fire?" Aila said. Eric Brundage, vice president of Donaldson Enterprises, whieh is the bomb disposal company responsible for the elean-up of Mākua, said that there are alternatives to burning as a way to remove vegetation to identify ordinance, but they are "more expensive, more time eonsuming and in some cases more hazardous to those people locating the ordinance." Aila said the military is unahle to be good stewards of the land because they don't understand the Hawaiian culture. He said that the military doesn't understand that when they burn something, they burn mana, "that is culture." "We are the true stewards of the land," Aila said. "It is our kuleana, and no one else's." ■

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Flames and smoke billow from the fire that scorched a large portion of Makua Valley after a "prescribed bum" initiated by the Army went out of control.

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