As part of Hawaii’s ohana for more than 116 years, the U.S. Army is committed to protecting the precious environment on these beautiful islands.

The Army has stewardship over several training ranges on Oahu and the Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island. We use these lands to train our soldiers, Marines and other service members in the rigors of combat — in fact, the training of America’s sons and daughters who’ve volunteered to serve our nation is our highest responsibility. But the protection of these lands is an equal responsibility and to preserve them for all our posterity.

The Army currently invests more than $7 million per year to protect more than 100 threatened and endangered species found on our Hawaii training lands. These efforts have helped save two species from extinction — the haha plant and Hawaiian mint.

Our Hawaii natural resource staff consists of 98 Department of Defense and contract employees, with 58 working on Oahu and 40 at Pohakuloa Training Area. We partner with more than 30 local, state and federal offices, agencies and schools to protect Hawaii’s natural resources.

This tremendous effort sets the standard throughout the Department of Defense and has not gone unnoticed. In 2012, our Hawaii program won the Secretary of Defense’s worldwide Environmental Award for Natural Resources Conservation — that award coming on the heels of the 2011 Secretary of the Army’s worldwide award for Natural Resource Management.

Our cultural resource program protects more than 1,200 archaeological sites on Oahu and Hawaii island, and more than 800 historic buildings and structures within two National Historic Landmark Districts and two Historic Districts in the state.

<*h"No Hyphenation">We invest between $3 million to $5 million annually on these protection efforts with a staff of 27 Department of Defense and contract employees, including 19 on Oahu and eight at Pohakuloa Training Area.

At Oahu’s Makua Military Reservation, we protect more than 120 cultural sites, investing more than $400,000 per year on these efforts, and protect 44 endangered plant and animal species with an annual cost in excess of $4 million.

We’re also vitally interested in preserving Hawaii’s lands, and have created buffer areas between our training ranges and adjacent lands. Working with public and private partnerships, the Army contributed more than $17.3 million to preserve more than 12,000 acres of land on Oahu through the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program.

The buffer zones include Waimea Valley, Moanalua Valley (Kamana Nui and Kamana Iki valleys), Pupukea-Paumalu coastal bluff, Honouliuli Preserve, Galbraith Estates land located outside of Wahiawa, and agricultural land mauka of Turtle Bay Resort.

These buffer areas minimize the impact of our training mission on local communities and help preserve open space and scenic vistas for future generations.

It’s important to note that the Army does not acquire or take ownership of these lands; instead we turn stewardship over to state government or private organizations whose goal is resource conservation.

The Army is also engaged in a variety of environmental sustainment efforts here: We’ve increased recycling by 73 tons annually; diverted 230 tons of food waste from the waste stream to local pig farms for feed stock; and recycled 4,000 tons of municipal solid waste, saving $300,000 in disposal fees.

Through our installation housing partnership, we’ve incorporated photovoltaic panels and solar water heating into our redeveloped housing neighborhoods.

These initiatives help reduce pollution by recycling resources from one use to another. But most of our environmental protection efforts come with a cost — and it’s the price we pay for the privilege of training here. It’s an investment the Army makes each year in Hawaii because we are committed to be good stewards of the lands and natural resources entrusted to our care.