Hawaii’s congressional delegation is pushing the Navy to provide more information on its plan to more than double bombardment training on a small Hawaiian Island that the state and conservation groups consider a critical bird sanctuary.

Kaula lies about 23 miles southwest of Niihau and is a nesting ground to about 18 species of birds — including the black-footed albatross — and its shores team with monk seals and other marine life. But since 1953 the island also has been used by the Navy for target practice.

The Navy originally used live explosive ordnance, but stopped the practice in the 1980s and began using inert dummy rounds instead. But as tensions simmer with China and the Pentagon increasingly sees the Pacific as its top-priority theater of operations, the military has looked to s

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