Posted on: Thursday, July 17, 2003

Army plans for Stryker work

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — The Army plans to spend $693 million on new construction projects on O'ahu and the Big Island in the coming years to accommodate a new Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

That includes $293 million for construction and land purchases on the Big Island as the Army revamps portions of the Pohakuloa Training Area for Stryker live-fire exercises and maneuvers, according to a military briefing for Big Island community leaders yesterday.

Army officials are still waiting for a final decision from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on whether to proceed with the $1.5 billion Hawai'i Stryker brigade, but briefing materials provided by the Army yesterday showed military planners have spent nearly $30 million on environmental studies, engineering, planning and other groundwork for the project.

The plan is to convert a Schofield Barracks brigade to a fast-strike Stryker unit, equipped with about 300 eight-wheeled, 19-ton armored vehicles. Tentative plans call for six such brigades around the nation.

The Stryker project would expand the Pohakuloa training area by about 23,000 acres to allow for maneuvers on lands now used by Parker Ranch for cattle grazing.

Col. David L. Anderson, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawai'i, said two species of endangered plants have been identified on those lands, and said the Army would take steps to protect the plants. He did not identify the species.

There are almost a dozen endangered plant species within the current boundaries of the training area, and a number of endangered birds have been seen on or around the facility as well as the endangered Hawaiian Hoary Bat.

Big Island activist Jim Albertini objected to the invitation-only meeting in Hilo yesterday, arguing that discussions of the plan should be open to the public. About three dozen people picketed in front of the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, he said.

He also argued the military should clean up the problems it has created with unexploded ordnance on all islands before it takes control of new lands.

Anderson said more than two dozen community meetings have been held on the Big Island in connection with the project, including two that were open to the public. He said there will be more public hearings on the project later.

Planners expect to make a final decision on whether to proceed with all of the Hawai'i project or portions of it after the final environmental impact statement is released early next year.