Army Closes Mākua Training Ranges, Shrinks Oahu Footprint

The Army will stop training at Mākua Military Reservation and cut 19,500 acres of its Oahu leases as part of a land retention process.

Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Military

Army Closes Mākua Training Ranges, Shrinks Oahu Footprint

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The U.S. Army closed training ranges at Mākua Military Reservation effective October 1, 2026, and announced on November 6, 2026 that it is reducing its Oahu lease-hold footprint by 19,500 acres, including 5,900 acres of state-leased land. The Army has asked the Department of Land and Natural Resources to begin lease close-out for parcels at Poamoho, Mākua and Kahuku Training Area.

Why it matters

The closure follows the Army's 2023 commitment to permanently ban live-fire training at Mākua, a practice that ceased in 2004 and has long been contested by Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners. For Hawaii, the reduction returns state-leased land and reshapes how military training is distributed across Oahu.

The Army is reducing its Oahu lease-hold footprint by 19,500 acres, including 5,900 acres of state-leased land. Additional parcel returns are under consideration, but no timeline or parcel list has been specified.

The players

U.S. Army

The U.S. Army is the land-warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces, and it manages the training ranges and leased lands at issue in this story.

Department of Land and Natural Resources

The Hawaii state agency that manages state-owned lands and leases, and that the Army has asked to begin lease close-out for the affected parcels.

Mālama Mākua

A community group that advocates for cultural access to the Mākua area, which the Army says will continue under the closure.

The details

The Army will retain use of the airspace above Mākua, and cultural access for Mālama Mākua and wildland fire suppression and security activities will continue there. Military ground training on 3,406 acres of neighboring federally-managed lands can be shifted to other ranges on Oahu.

2004: Live-fire training at Mākua Military Reservation ceased.
2023: The Army committed to permanently banning live-fire training at Mākua.
2025: The Army committed not to pursue 782 acres of state-leased lands through land retention.
October 1, 2026: Training range closures at Mākua took effect.
November 6, 2026: The Army announced the range closures and lease-hold reductions.

Roadmap

The closure extends the 2004 cessation of live-fire training at Mākua, which ended more than two decades of contested use of the reservation. It also fulfills the Army's 2023 commitment to a permanent ban, signaling a broader pattern of the military consolidating its Hawaii training footprint.

Military training that once took place at Mākua will shift to other ranges on Oahu, and state-leased parcels will return to state control through the close-out process. Residents seeking cultural access to Mākua should expect that access to continue under the closure terms.

The takeaway

The closure marks a concrete step in returning contested Oahu land to state and community use, though the timing of further parcel returns remains open. Readers tracking Hawaii land policy should watch for the Department of Land and Natural Resources' close-out decisions.