Strykers: Following public outcry, OHA calls on Army to honor 2008 agreement

HONOLULU—Amid public outcry, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) has requested that the U.S. Army honors a 2008 agreement that helps identify and protect cultural sites.

A week after OHA officials met face-to-face with concerned members of the Hawaiian community over a damning archaeological report the organization sat on for almost a year, a letter was sent to the Army on Friday, August 6, requesting that the military “promptly evaluate the historic properties” discovered.

The letter to the Army concludes by stating that “in the spirit of collaboration and in good faith, OHA would like to propose a continued collaboration between our office and your agency.”

The report, the direct result of the 2008 settlement agreement between OHA and the Army, was a key avenue for OHA to make sure historic sites were documented and then offered protection through the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The 300-page manuscript identifies many previously unrecorded sites, which, if included on the National Register of Historic Places, offers them various protections from being disturbed.

According to the settlement, OHA does have the option, if the two parties cannot come to a consensus on the identification of historic properties eligible for the Register, of seeking an injunction to halt construction should attempts at mediation prove unsuccessful. More information on the timeline for this process is forthcoming. 

A copy of the letter can be found here.

Christopher Monahan’s full report on the Stryker vehicles and cultural sites can be viewed at http://www.scribd.com/doc/35479329/Monahan-Report.