Kahoʻolawe The Target Isle
Landsat satellite image of Kahoolawe
Geography
Location in the state of Hawaii
Location	20°33′N, 156°36′W
Area	44. The Landsat program is the longest running enterprise for acquisition of imagery of Earth from space The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the 6 sq mi (115. 5 km²)
Rank	8th largest Hawaiian Island
Highest point	Puʻu Moaulanui (Lua Makika)   1,483 ft (452 m)[1]
Demographics
Population	Unknown (Uninhabited)
Official Insignia[2]
Flower	Hinahina
Color	Ahinahina (Grey)

Kahoʻolawe is the smallest of the 8 main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian Islands, once known as the Sandwich Islands, form an Archipelago of 19 Islands and Atolls numerous smaller Spanish moss ( Tillandsia usneoides) closely resembles its namesake ( Usnea, or beard lichen Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the The Hawaiian Islands, once known as the Sandwich Islands, form an Archipelago of 19 Islands and Atolls numerous smaller It is located 7 miles (11. 2 km) southwest of Maui and southeast of Lānaʻi and is 11 miles (18 km) long by 6 miles (9. The Island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727 Lānai (in Hawaiian lɑːnɑʔi is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. 7 km) across. Total area is 44. 6 square miles (115. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. 5 km²). Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of ^[3] The highest point is the crater of Lua Makika at the summit of Puʻu Moaulanui, which is 1,477 feet (450 m) above sea level. A volcanic crater is a circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity The island is relatively dry because the low elevation fails to generate much orographic precipitation from the northeastern trade winds and it is located in the rain shadow of Maui's 10,023 feet (3,055 m) high East Maui Volcano (Haleakalā). In Meteorology, precipitation (also known as one class of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric The trade winds (also called trades) are the prevailing pattern of easterly winds found in the Tropics near the Earth's Equator. For the Australian television series see Rain Shadow (TV series. Haleakalā or East Maui Volcano is a massive Shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui. More than one quarter of the island has been eroded down to saprolitic hardpan. Saprolite (from Greek σαπρος =putrid + lite is the name for a chemically weathered rock In Soil science, Agriculture and Gardening, hardpan is a general term for a dense layer of Soil, residing usually below the uppermost

The United States Census Bureau defines Kahoʻolawe as Block Group 9, Census Tract 303. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title) is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census A census tract, census area, or census district is a particular Community defined for the purpose of taking a Census. 02 of Maui County, Hawaiʻi. Maui County is a County located in the US state of Hawaii. It consists of the islands of Maui, Kahoolawe, Lānai, There are no permanent residents living on the island. ^[4]

History

Sometime around 1000, Kahoʻolawe was settled, and small, temporary fishing communities were established along the coast. Some inland areas were cultivated, and fine-grained basalt was quarried for stone tools. Basalt (bəˈsɔːlt ˈbeisɔːlt ˈbæsɔːlt is a common Extrusive Volcanic rock. Originally a dry, mesic forest environment with intermittent streams, the land changed to an open savannah of grassland and trees as a result of vegetation clearance for firewood and agriculture. In Ecology, a mesic habitat is a type of Habitat with a moderate or well-balanced supply of Moisture, i A savanna or savannah is a Tropical or Subtropical Grassland or Woodland Ecosystem. Grasslands (also called greenswards) are areas where the Vegetation is dominated by Grasses ( Poaceae) and other Herbaceous (non-woody People built stone platforms for religious ceremonies, set rocks upright as shrines for successful fishing trips, and carved petroglyphs, or drawings, into the flat surfaces of rocks. Petroglyphs are Images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising pecking carving and abrading These indicators of an earlier time can still be found on Kahoʻolawe.

While it is not known how many people inhabited the island, the lack of freshwater probably limited the population to a few hundred. As many as 100 or more people may have once lived at Hakioawa, the largest settlement located at the northeast end of the island facing Maui.

Violent wars among competing chiefs laid waste to the land and led to a decline in the population. During the War of Kamokuhi, Kalaniopuʻu, the ruler of the Island of Hawaiʻi, raided and pillaged Kahoʻolawe in an unsuccessful attempt to take Maui from Kamalalawalu, the King of Maui. From 1778 to the early 1800s, observers on passing ships reported that the island was uninhabited and barren, destitute of both water and wood. After the arrival of missionaries from New England, the Hawaiian government of King Kamehameha III replaced the death penalty with exile, and Kahoʻolawe became a male penal colony sometime around 1830. A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) ( August 11, 1813 ?&ndash December 15, 1854) was the king of Hawaii from 1824 to 1854 Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. A penal colony is a Settlement used to detain Prisoners and generally use them for Penal labour in an economically underdeveloped part of the state's Food and water were scarce, some prisoners reportedly starved, and some swam across the channel to Maui to find food. The law making the island a penal colony was repealed in 1853.

An 1857 survey of Kahoʻolawe reported about 50 residents, about 5,000 acres (20 km²) of land covered with shrubs, and a patch of sugar cane. Along the shore, tobacco, pineapple, gourds, pili (pee-lee) grass and scrub trees grew. Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. Pineapple ( Ananas comosus) is the common name for an edible Tropical Plant and also its Fruit It is native to the southern part of Brazil This article refers to the Dried fruit shell For the alternative country musical group of a similar name see The Gourds. Beginning in 1858, the Hawaiian government leased Kahoʻolawe to a sequence of ranching ventures. Some proved more successful than others, but the lack of freshwater was an unyielding enemy. Through the next 80 years, the landscape changed dramatically—drought and uncontrolled overgrazing denuded much of the island, and strong trade winds blew away much of the topsoil leaving the red hard pan. A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply Topsoil is the upper outermost layer of soil usually the top 2 to 8 inches

Kahoolawe from the air while flying over Alalakeiki Channel. Kanapou Bay is at center left in photo.

From 1910 to 1918 the Hawaiian Territorial government designated Kahoʻolawe as a forest reserve in hopes of restoring the island through a revegetation and livestock removal program. nature reserve ( natural reserve, nature preserve, natural preserve) is a Protected area of importance for Wildlife, flora The program failed and leases again became available. In 1918, the skilled Wyoming rancher Angus MacPhee with the help of Maui landowner Harry Baldwin leased the island for 21 years, intending to build a cattle ranch. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. By 1932, the ranching operation was enjoying moderate success. After heavy rains, native grasses and flowering plants would sprout, but drought seemed to always return. In 1941, MacPhee subleased part of the island to the Army. Later that year, because of continuing drought, MacPhee removed his cattle from the island.

On December 8, 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U. Events 1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room the second public library of Europe. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The attack on Pearl Harbor (or Hawaii Operation, as it was called by the Imperial General Headquarters) was a surprise Military strike conducted by S. Army declared martial law throughout Hawaiʻi and took control of Kahoʻolawe. Soon, Kahoʻolawe was being used as a place to train Americans headed to war across the Pacific. The use of Kahoʻolawe as a training range was believed to be critical to the lives of many young Americans. The United States was executing a new type of war in the Pacific islands. Success depended on accurate, heavy gunfire from ships suppressing enemy positions as Marines and soldiers struggled to get ashore. Thousands of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen prepared on Kahoʻolawe for the brutal and costly assaults on islands such as the Gilberts, the Marianas and Iwo Jima. The Mariana Islands (also the Marianas; up to the early 20th century sometimes called Ladrones Islands, from Spanish Islas de los Ladrones meaning Iwo Jima ( 硫黄[[wikt 島|島]] officially Iōtō,also frequently Iōjima: “ Sulfur island” is an island of the Japanese

Training on Kahoʻolawe continued after World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including During the Korean War, carrier-based aircraft played a critical role in attacking enemy airfields, convoys and troop staging areas. The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the Mock-ups of airfields, vehicles and other camps were constructed on Kahoʻolawe, and while pilots were undergoing readiness inspection at nearby Barbers Point Naval Air Station, they practiced spotting and hitting the mock-ups at Kahoʻolawe. Kalaeloa Airport, also called John Rodgers Field (the original name of Honolulu International Airport) and formerly Naval Air Station Barbers Similar training took place through the Cold War and during Vietnam, as mock-ups of aircraft, radar installations, gun mounts and surface-to-air missile sites were placed across the island for pilots and others to use for training.

In early 1965, the United States Navy conducted Operation Sailor Hat to determine the blast resistance of ships. Operation Sailor Hat was an Explosives effects test conducted by the US Navy at Kaho'olawe Island, Hawaii in 1965 Three tests off the coast of Kahoolawe subjected the Island and a target ship to massive explosions, with 500 tons of conventional TNT detonated on the Island near the target ship USS Atlanta (CL-104); The ship was damaged, but not sunk. Awards Atlanta (CL-104 earned two Battle stars for her World War II service The blasts created a crater on the island known as "Sailor Man's Cap", cracking the small fresh water well on the island rendering it incapable of holding fresh water and making the Island all but uninhabitable.

In 1976, a group of individuals calling themselves the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana (PKO) filed suit in federal court to stop the Navy’s use of Kahoʻolawe for military training, to require compliance with a number of new environmental laws and to ensure protection of cultural resources on the island. In 1977, the Federal District Court for the District of Hawaii allowed the Navy’s use of the island to continue, but the Court directed the Navy to prepare an environmental impact statement and complete an inventory of historic sites on the island. An environmental impact statement, in the United States, is a document that must be filed when the federal government takes a "major Federal action significantly On March 9, 1977, two PKO leaders, George Helm and Kimo Mitchell, were lost at sea during an attempt to occupy Kahoʻolawe in symbolic protest. George Jarrett Helm Jr (b Mar 23 1950 - Disappeared 1977 was a Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian activist and musician from Kalamaʻula, Molokaʻi In 1980, the Navy and the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana entered into a Consent Decree which allowed continued military training on the island, monthly access to the island for the PKO, surface clearance of part of the island, soil conservation, goat eradication and an archaeological survey. Soil conservation is set of management strategies for prevention of Soil being eroded from the earth’s surface or becoming chemically altered by overuse

On March 18, 1981, the entire island was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of At that time, the Kahoʻolawe Archaeological District was noted to contain 544 recorded archaeological or historic sites and over 2,000 individual features. As part of the soil conservation efforts, workers laid lines of explosive charges, detonating them to break the hardpan so that seedling trees could be planted. Used tires were taken to Kahoʻolawe and placed in miles of deep gullies to slow the washing of red soil from the barren uplands to the surrounding shores. Ordnance and scrap metal was picked up by hand and transported by large trucks to a collection site.

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush ordered an end to live-fire training on the island. George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12 1924 served as the forty-first President of the United States from 1989 to 1993 The Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1991 established the Kahoʻolawe Island Conveyance Commission to recommend terms and conditions for the conveyance of Kahoʻolawe by the United States government to the State of Hawaiʻi.

Transfer of title and UXO cleanup

In 1993, Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaiʻi sponsored Title X of the Fiscal Year 1994 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, directing that the United States convey Kahoʻolawe and its surrounding waters to the State of Hawaiʻi. Unexploded ordnance (or UXO s/ UXB s sometimes acronymized as UO) are explosive Weapons ( Bombs Bullets shells is an American politician who currently serves as the senior United States Senator from Hawaii. Title X also established the objective of a “clearance or removal of unexploded ordnance (UXO)” and environmental restoration of the island, to provide “meaningful safe use of the island for appropriate cultural, historical, archaeological, and educational purposes, as determined by the State of Hawaii. Unexploded ordnance (or UXO s/ UXB s sometimes acronymized as UO) are explosive Weapons ( Bombs Bullets shells ” In turn, the State created the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission to exercise policy and management oversight of the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve. As directed by Title X and in accordance with a required Navy/State of Hawaiʻi Memorandum of Understanding, the Navy transferred title of Kahoʻolawe to the State of Hawaiʻi on May 9, 1994.

As required by Title X, the Navy retained access control to the island until clearance and environmental restoration activities were completed, or November 11, 2003, whichever came first. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The State agreed to prepare a Use Plan for Kahoʻolawe and the Navy agreed to develop a Cleanup Plan based on that use plan and to implement that plan to the extent Congress provided funds for that purpose.

In July 1997, the Navy awarded a contract to the Parsons/UXB Joint Venture to clear ordnance from the island to the extent funds were provided by Congress. After the State and public review of the Navy cleanup plan, Parsons/UXB began their work on the island in November 1998.

The Navy attempted a cleanup of the unexploded ordnance from the island, although much still remains buried or resting on the land surface. Other items have washed down gullies and still others lie beneath the waters offshore. The turnover was officially made on November 11, 2003, but the cleanup was not completed. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Although the U. S. Navy was given $400 million and 10 years to complete the task, work progressed much more slowly than anticipated. As of the time of turnover, access to Kahoʻolawe requires escort and careful attention within areas known to contain unexploded ordnance.

Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve

In 1993, the Hawaiʻi State Legislature established the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve, consisting of "the entire island and its surrounding ocean waters in a two mile (3 km) radius from the shore". The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the By State Law, Kahoʻolawe and its waters can only be used for Native Hawaiian cultural, spiritual and subsistence purposes; fishing; environmental restoration; historic preservation; and education. Environmental restoration is a term common in the citizens’ Environmental movement. Commercial uses are prohibited.

The Legislature also created the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) to manage the Reserve while it is held in trust for a future Native Hawaiian Sovereignty entity. The restoration of Kahoʻolawe will require a strategy to control erosion, re-establish vegetation, recharge the water table, and gradually replace alien plants with native species. The water table is the level at which the ground water pressure is equal to Atmospheric pressure. Plans will include methods for damming gullies and reducing rainwater runoff. In some areas, non-native plants will temporarily stabilize soils before planting of permanent native species.

See also

• Alalakeiki Channel

References

• Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission
• Navy Region Hawaiʻi Kahoʻolawe Ordnance Removal Operation
• Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana organization website

External links

• "On Kaho‘olawe" - HONOLULU Magazine ~ November 2006
• "Saving Kaho‘olawe" - HONOLULU Magazine ~ November 2006
• Hawaiian Encyclopedia:Kaho‘olawe