Negotiating Yap's lands
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
When land is involved, negotiations between the military and the islanders are bound to be more contentious than expected. For Indigenous Pacific communities, land is more than real estate or a dot on the map; it is a precious cultural pillar linked to their identity and shapes daily life. Hence, Yap won’t surrender their land easily—unless the price is right.
Francis Itimai In 2025, the Department of War announced plans to invest $2 billion in Yap, where it proposes to build defense sites as part of its strategy to expand its presence in the Pacific amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
The U.S. Pacific Command has offered $350 million for environmental mitigation and $800 million for airport land. Yap demands $1.3 billion, a counterproposal that brought the negotiation to a standoff in July.
Yap Gov. Francis Itimai said the military is targeting a large piece of land. “Those are the things that we were negotiating with the landowners involved and the chiefs,” he said. “The Yap leadership hasn't changed its position. We’re still pushing for that.”
In July 2025, the Department of Defense released details of its proposed airport and seaport projects on Yap, which would facilitate military deployment and project power posture in the Federated States of Micronesia.
While the defense plan does not include permanent basing on the island state, the proposed projects would pave the way for smooth entry of U.S. military aircraft and vessels, including those owned by allied countries.
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In July this year, Rear Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, rejected Yap’s $1.3 billion price tag. The command could just go elsewhere, he said.
In July, August, and September, the military removed Yap's projects from its monthly construction calendar and suspended ongoing construction activities on the island state.
Although Yap’s land is at stake, the state government sits on the periphery of the negotiations between the FSM national government and the Pacific Command, Itimai said.
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“We need to meet with the national government in person and if necessary, with the U.S. military folks to get us be involved,” he said. “As of now, I haven't been involved in the other negotiations.”
The FSM government, Itimai said, is taking a cautious approach given the terms of the Compact of Free Association, which grant the U.S. defense rights and authority to use the nation's lands, airspace and waters for military purposes.
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It wasn’t clear whether the FSM and Pacific Command had returned to the table, but tensions eased when Rear Adm. Joshua Lasky, commander of the Joint Task Force Micronesia, and Andrew Wylie, the U.S. Embassy’s chargé d'affaires, visited Yap in October.
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Yap projects are back on the table, according to the Yap U.S. Military Office. “To ensure we are doing this responsibly, the YUMO task force and our technical experts will be actively participating in several upcoming review meetings with U.S. Government and Department of War representatives,” the office said.
“During these upcoming sessions, our team will be working alongside U.S. officials to review the requested defense site areas, equipment storage areas, and temporary laydown areas to resolve any outstanding matters,” YUMO said in a press release on Oct. 9.
Officials said the task force will join the U.S. military technical expert team to carry out a final review of the draft environmental impact statement, “focusing on strengthening protections for our island's natural environment, traditions, and community life.”
While the FSM government sits on the front lines of matters involving COFA, Itimai said the state takes the lead in implementing projects.
“Because we're dealing with landowners and the communities here, we're also meeting with them so that we're not giving them the wrong information.”
But at this point, he said, Yap is in wait-and-see mode.
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