Hawaii’s tenuous relationship with the Navy reached a tipping point in November 2021, when a crisis at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility saw thousands of gallons of jet fuel gush into a fire suppression system and later contaminate a drinking water network serving some 93,000 people.

The spill, which sickened thousands and still threatens a vital Oahu aquifer, aroused new concern over military land stewardship — its negative ecological impact and at times cavalier disregard for precious local resources. Under intense scrutiny, individual military branches touted new environmental initiatives and accelerated existing missions to protect the land they lease.

To be sure, the Navy is dedicating funds toward better stewardship at its bases, training grounds and other facilities. And rightly so. The latest, a 10-year renewable intergovernmental support agreement (IGSA) signed last week with the University of Hawaii, harnesses island conservation expertise to safeguard natural and cultural resources on Navy and Marine Corps installations and surrounding environs. In addition to the environmental mission, it’s a chance to showcase UH’s specialized knowledge and, if followed through to fruition, is a win-win for all parties.

Under the IGSA, the Navy can allocate up to $10 million annually on natural resource management, cultural resource management, environmental services and engineering, and coastal management. There is no minimum amount to be allotted, meaning no part of the proposed outlay is guaranteed, but UH Vice President for Research and Innovation Vassilis L. Syrmos expects exhaustion of the full $10 million yearly. And it is in the state’s interest to use all funds up for offer.

First on a totem pole of undertakings are projects related to natural resources, such as monitoring and control of invasive species including coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB), little fire ants (LFA) and various plants. CRB and LFA are legitimate hazards to native and endemic species, and any help alleviating those blights is welcome, and necessary. Environmental services is next and will provide an opportunity to stimulate local business by enlisting engineering firms to complete work UH cannot. Similar private outreach might also play a factor in shoreline hardening, at Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) Barking Sands and Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) at Kaneohe Bay. Syrmos estimates the creation of hundreds of jobs across the islands through this IGSA, which covers Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam as well as Oahu’s MCBH and Kauai’s PMRF. Beyond UH, other state agencies might be brought into the fold, opening the door to future partnerships that might otherwise not materialize.

A similar, if not overlapping, Department of Defense (DoD) initiative called the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program elicits participation from public and private entities to protect natural and cultural resources sited at or near military installations. For its 2024 REPI Challenge, a competition designed to foster new projects, DoD, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service and UH Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit partnered to address invasive species in the areas surrounding MCBH, PMRF and Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island.

With DLNR invested in REPI, the Navy is looking to include that agency into its IGSA with UH. Those alliances dovetail well and put more local assets to work to collaboratively solve pressing issues, both for the health of Hawaii’s land and the strength of DoD facilities. Looking ahead, Syrmos said, the U.S. Air Force and Army have expressed interest in inking IGSAs of their own, possibly as soon as 2025.

All positive developments. Now, the Navy must endeavor not to offset hard-won gains with ecological snafus, an example being the ongoing spate of untreated wastewater discharges at MCBH and Pearl Harbor.

Much depends on President-elect Donald Trump and an incoming Cabinet bent on paring back environmental enterprises — but state agencies must apply steady pressure to force military accountability, right wrongs and protect the land.