Aloha,

First, mahalo nut for signing on to our petition demanding the end of military occupation of stolen Hawaiian ʻāina after the expiration of military leases on O'ahu.

Second, we need your voice once again. You may recall that the Land Board, after receiving hundreds of written testimonies and hours of public comments, voted to reject the sorely deficient environmental impact statements for the Army's retention of lands at Pōhakuloa and on Oʻahu, beyond the 2029 expiration of its leases.

However, one board member, Riley Smith, was willing to undermine our environmental review law and ignore the cries of Native Hawaiians, environmentalists, and countless others who care about and wish to protect our islands from any further bombing, burning, and desecration.

Now, Smith is being nominated to serve another term on the Land Board, until 2030 - after the leases for Pōhakuloa and Oʻahu are scheduled to expire. Can you take one or two minutes to call or email your Senator, and urge them to vote NO on GM692, nominating Riley Smith to the Board of Land and Natural Resources?

You can find your Senator's contact information simply by going to capitol.hawaii.gov/fyl and entering your address. Here is a sample message, but feel free to share your own personal manaʻo:

"Aloha Senator ______, my name is [your name] and I live in ____. Please, do not vote to confirm GM692, nominating Riley Smith to the Land Board. He has ignored the requirements of the environmental impact statement law for expiring military leases, advocated for hotels to be able to keep the public from public beach areas, and ignored court rulings when authorizing permits that allowed East Maui streams to be drained dry - among many other inappropriate decisions. We simply cannot entrust our public trust resources to a person who does not seem to have an understanding of or commitment to the public trust.  Mahalo."