In 1991 an act of Congress called on the secretary of the Army to hand over to the state 87 acres of land that makes up the western end of Dillingham Airfield, a section of property that also includes the adjacent shoreline, locally known as Army Beach.
But the conveyance, for unknown reasons, never happened.
Now, more than 30 years later, a state Senate resolution is calling on the Army secretary to finally convey the land to Hawaii.
The resolution, introduced by Sen. Gil Riviere (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua), was approved Tuesday by the Senate’s Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs.
It calls on the chairman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to work with federal officials to make the necessary agreements to complete the deal.
Riviere, who has lobbied to save the North Shore airfield in recent years, said the transfer of land will help the state better manage the airport and help to keep it operating well into the future.
More than a dozen Dillingham tenants, workers, pilots and aviation advocates provided written testimony agreeing with Riviere and urging lawmakers to approve the resolution.
Ben Devine, executive director of Save Dillingham Airfield, told the committee there’s a pilot shortage and that the land in question houses the Civil Air Patrol and the Young Eagles program, among other things.
“It is the only place for youth in Hawaii to get free entry into careers in aviation, so this would really help return vital resources to the community,” Devine said.
Two years ago the state Department of Transportation — facing a $1 million deficit and the likelihood of having to run an aging water system at the airfield — announced it was moving to terminate its lease of the airport property. It put tenants on notice to vacate the airport long used for flight training, skydiving, sightseeing and glider operations.
But the community rallied around the airport, saying the facility was an important economic driver and key resource for general aviation.
The DOT’s Airports Division eventually extended its lease termination date to July 5, 2024, citing progress in negotiations for a long-term lease with the Army.
Riviere said that in researching the issue it was discovered that the federal government had intended to give back a portion of the airfield. But for unknown reasons, he said, the deal outlined in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 was never completed. Regardless of whether the airfield continues to operate in the future, the state should take back its land, he said.
The airfield had operated as a military installation since 1927 and was expanded during World War II. In 1962, 278 acres of the 650-acre Dillingham Military Reservation was turned over to the Airports Division for general aviation.
According to the resolution, the topography and weather offer ideal conditions found nowhere else in the state for recreational skydiving, glider planes, flight instruction and other aviation businesses that generate more than $12 million in revenue for the economy.
Dillingham, also known as Kawaihapai Airfield, is recognized around the world as a premier location for skydiving and gliding, and is the nation’s most heavily used drop zone, the resolution says.
Devine said the secretary of the Army has the power to expand the land conveyance to include the entire 287 acres of airfield land, and a joint-use agreement would ensure that the Army would be able to carry out its mission.
This would be good for the Army, he said, because state ownership would help the Airports Division obtain federal airport improvement grants resulting in better facilities overall.
