Hawai'i Sentinel Landscape

  • Hawai'i

  • Established 2024

About

The Hawaiʻi Sentinel Landscape spans over two million acres, featuring priority conservation, agricultural, and Department of Defense (DOD) mission lands on the islands of Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, and Hawaiʻi Island. Given Hawaiʻi’s scarcity of land, these areas offer a chance to promote the conservation of natural and cultural resources, mitigate threats from encroachment, and promote land use that complements military activities.

Key military installations within this landscape include: Pōhakuloa Training Area on Hawaiʻi Island; Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauaʻi; and Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, and U.S. Army Garrison Hawaiʻi on Oʻahu. These sites support the Military Services in maintaining regional power balances in the Indo-Pacific, enabling forces to coordinate on training that fosters a resilient and rapidly innovating Joint Force to deter aggression.

In Hawaiʻi, rapid urban and residential development threatens agricultural lands, native forests, and critical habitat while also obstructing low elevation flight and drone training, radar, and communication antennas. Climate induced threats further challenge military readiness, community resilience, and cultural resources. For example, sea level rise and extreme weather anomalies erode shorelines, increase flooding, and impact underground aquifers. Extended drought periods impact freshwater resources and lead to more frequent wildfires. The Hawaiʻi Sentinel Landscape enables more than 20 federal, state, local, and non-governmental partners to collaborate on landscape-scale solutions to address these shared challenges.

Map

Our Partners

Federal Partners

State Partners

Private Partners

In The News

  • Navy Partners with State of Hawaii to Improve Waiawa Watershed

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  • MCBH partnering with DLNR and others to support $8.7 Million REPI Challenge project to target invasive species in waters surrounding the Mokapu Peninsula

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  • MCBH and the Community Work Together to Combat Invasive Species

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Resources

Meet the Coordinator

Lea Hong

hawaii@sentinellandscapes.org

Lea Hong is the Hawai'i Sentinel Landscape Coordinator and the Hawai'i state director for the Trust for Public Land (TPL). Over her 18-year tenure as state director, Lea has established several impactful programs through the Hawai'i TPL office, including the Aloha ʻĀina program, which protects land reconnecting Native Hawaiians and others to Hawaiian culture; the Sustainable Hawai'i program, which safeguards food, forests, and drinking water sources; and most recently, the Parks for People Program, starting with a pilot project at ʻAʻala Park. Notable land protection projects completed under her leadership include the Ka ʻIwi Coast Mauka Lands, Kahuku Kawela Forever (Turtle Bay Makai), and the Lands of Līhuʻe (Galbraith Estate).

Before joining TPL, Lea chaired the environmental and cultural resource law practice group at the Honolulu law firm of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing (now Dentons) and worked for the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. She is a graduate of Leilehua High School, Rice University, and the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai'i, where she serves on the Friends of the Law School Board and has taught classes on environmental litigation, environmental regulatory compliance, and conservation transactions.

Lea has received numerous accolades, which she credits to the communities she collaborates with, including Honolulu Magazine’s Islander of the Year (Environment), the Hawai'i Conservation Alliance Outstanding Leadership Award, and the Hawai'i Women Lawyers Outstanding Woman Lawyer of the Year. A native of Wahiawā on the island of Oʻahu, Lea enjoys surfing, hiking, and dog agility with her two mini-labradoodles, Milo and Ogo, in her spare time.