Kahoʻolawe

USA / Hawaii / Kihei /
 island, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, invisible, historic district
The counterpart of Vieques and San Clemente Islands, Kahoʻolawe has been used for many decades as an Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine training & target area. The use of Kahoʻolawe as a training range was believed to be critical to the lives of many young Americans. Uninhabited and littered with shrapnel and unexploded ordinance, the Island has been cleaned up by private companies after the US Navy’s attempts to clear the area failed. No more work will be done by federal gov’t funding. Returned to the state of Hawaiʻi with full ceremony, the island is now part of Maui county.

On March 18th, 1981, the entire 45 square-mile island was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as ‘Kahoʻolawe Island Archeological District’, a U.S. Historic District. The island’s addition to the Register was prompted by the existence of more than 500 individual archeological sites.

Kahoʻolawe, 6 miles SW across ʻAlalākeiki Channel from the SW extremity of Maui, has an area of 45 square statute miles and is the smallest of the eight major islands. Kahoʻolawe is about 10 miles long and 6 miles wide, and from a distance has an even, unbroken appearance. The high cliffs on the E and S sides are grayish-black; the soil of the mountain tops and the gentle slopes of the N and W sides are reddish. The island has scarcely any rainfall, and the huge clouds of red dust which trail to leeward during strong winds can be seen for many miles. Puʻu ʻO Moaʻula lki, a brown dome 1,444 feet high near the E end of the island, is the most prominent landmark.
[www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/coastpilot_w.php?book=7] Chapter 14
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahoolawe
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   20°33'10"N   156°36'56"W

Comments

  • Wow just look how barren it is It sure stands out amongst all the green of the other islands letus hope it may one day return to what it once was...
  • Kaho'olawe has never really been inhabited because of the reason mentioned above - it's not green!! It has no fresh water supply, something critical for human existence. Whatever population(s) existed there didn't last long, as the island just isn't capable of supporting life.
  • This island, this spring, has been greener than usual - the side visible from the valley of Maui. The plantings of native plants done some years ago, with a drip sprinkler system to help them get established, seem to have taken hold. Like they planted Lana`i with Cook and Norfolk Island pines, the presence of green things attracts more moisture.
  • it IS in the rain shadow of the Big Island to the East
  • Kahoolawe is probably the worst Hawaiian island.