Honouliuli Special Resource Study National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Honouliuli Special Resource Study • Newsletter #1 • February/March 2011 http://www.nps.gov/pwro/honouliuli

This newsletter provides an 

introduction to the special resource 

study, including:

•	 What is a special resource study?

•	 Why is the NPS conducting this 

special resource study?

•	 Frequently asked questions

•	 Study area map and description

•	 Study process

•	 How you can participate

•	 Comment Form

•	 Public meeting schedule

Newsletter Contents

The National Park Service preserves unimpaired 

the natural and cultural resources and values 

of the national park system for the enjoyment, 

education, and inspiration of this and future 

generations. The NPS cooperates with partners 

to extend the benefits of natural and cultural 

resource conservation and outdoor recreation 

throughout this country and the world.

The national park system is comprised of 

many types of park units. Administration 

of park units occurs in many ways, from 

traditional units which are federally managed, 

to non-traditional units, which rely on 

partnerships and may have little, if any, federal 

landownership. 

About the National Park Service

Aloha Friends,

The National Park Service (NPS) is conducting a “Special Resource Study” of 

Hawai‘i’s World War II confinement sites to determine the best way to preserve 

the sites and share their history. The U.S. Congress, under Public Law 111-

88, directed the NPS to carry out this study because of the importance of the 

confinement story of Hawai‘i’s Japanese Americans and European Americans 

forcibly confined during World War II. Mainland sites such as Tule Lake and 

Manzanar, California and Minidoka, Idaho, tell part of the story of the Japanese 

American Internment during WWII. However, Hawai‘i’s unique part of that 

history is only told on a limited scale. 

Preliminary studies have identified 13 sites in Hawai‘i where individuals were 

confined for varying lengths of time between the start of the war in 1941 and 

its conclusion in 1945. The 13 sites are located on six of the Hawaiian islands. 

The largest of all the sites in Hawai‘i was Honouliuli Gulch, located near Ewa, 

on O‘ahu, where more than 1200 individuals were confined between 1943 

and 1945. These individuals were primarily leaders of the Japanese American 

community, but also included German Americans and Italian Americans, and 

a number of prisoners of war. Both men and women were interned. Also on 

O‘ahu, hundreds of individuals were processed through the U.S. Immigration 

Station in Honolulu and temporarily housed on Sand Island, prior to the 

construction of a larger internment facility at Honouliuli.

Other sites include the Wailua County Jail on Kaua‘i, the Wailuku County 

Jail on Maui, and the Kilauea Military Camp on Hawai‘i Island. The sites are 

in diverse ownership and the NPS will work with owners to identify ways to 

commemorate this history, if interested.

Most of the sites were used only briefly and few people were held in those 

temporary locations. In many cases, little remains of the sites and the 

significant roles they played in the lives of the people involved. 

Many people have shared the individual and collective stories of this important 

part of United States and Hawaiian history, with the express purpose that it 

become permanently documented as part of World War II’s epic history.

As we begin this study, we would like to know more about your vision for 

the preservation and commemoration of Honouliuli Gulch and other locations 

throughout Hawai‘i, and for sharing of stories relevant to the internment 

history.

Public information and comment meetings (called “scoping sessions”) will be 

held in February and March to receive public input. After the public scoping 

sessions have been completed, the NPS will develop a set of preservation 

alternatives and recommendations, which will be presented to the public for 

comment and then forwarded to Congress next year.

We hope you will take the time to let us know your thoughts and ideas. 

There will be other opportunities for public input throughout this study 

process and we invite you to follow the process on the Honouliuli website 

(listed below) and participate with your comments. You can check the 

schedule of meetings at the website and send your comments and suggestions 

to the e-mail address or mailing address in Honolulu, at the links listed 

throughout this newsletter. 

We look forward to hearing from you! 

 Mahalo!

The NPS Study Team

Newsletter #1 • February/March 2011

A sketch of the women’s camp at Honouliuli in 1943 by 

Dan Toru Nishikawa, JCCH Collections.
The purpose of this special resource study is to determine whether any portion of the Honouliuli Gulch and associated 

confinement sites in Hawai‘i are eligible to be designated as a unit of the national park system. For the NPS to 

recommend a new national park unit, an area must meet the following criteria: (a) contain nationally significant 

natural or cultural resources, (b) be a suitable addition to the national park system, (c) be a feasible addition to the 

national park system, (d) require direct NPS management, instead of alternative protection by others.

The study process provides an opportunity for the NPS and local communities to think creatively about how to care for 

the resources that they value; how to tell the stories of the important events that occurred there; and how to protect 

significant resources. Study recommendations may consider the entire study area or only portions of it.

This confinement and internment experience in Hawai‘i has been recognized as a significant part of World War II history 

that has not been fully documented or recognized. On Oct. 30, 2009, P.L. 111-88, Division A, Department of the Interior, 

Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, was signed into law. Title I, Section 125, “Honouliuli Special 

Resource Study,” authorized the Secretary of the Interior to complete a special resource study of the Honouliuli Gulch 

and associated sites for consideration of including the sites as a national park unit.

In this study, the NPS will only consider management alternatives that respect and retain the authorities of existing local, 

state and federal agencies. The NPS seeks to work collaboratively with local communities and agencies.

This study will not consider any alternatives that would adversely affect private property rights. A new national park 

unit designation, if recommended by this study and authorized by Congress, would not give the NPS any regulatory 

authority over private land. If the study recommends any NPS land acquisition, it will stipulate that land will only be 

acquired from willing sellers.

The study will explore many issues including: preservation of the Honouliuli Gulch internment site and preservation or 

recognition of other sites in Hawai‘i that were part of the confinement period; interpretation of the confinement period 

history through plaques, markers, interpretive displays; technical assistance and outreach to others involved in the 

documentation and interpretation of this part of history. 

The alternatives will include the option of continuing the current management of the area (which is the “no action” 

alternative). Other alternatives will be developed collaboratively with local stakeholders and focus on a range of 

opportunities and management strategies. Ultimately, the study will consider options or alternatives that explore ways 

that federal, state, local and private entities can protect and interpret these important cultural resources and provide 

more access to educational and outreach opportunities. 

Over the last 20 years, less than one-third of the special resource studies that have been authorized by Congress 

have found that the area under study is eligible for inclusion in the national park system. Many studies determine 

that existing management, technical or financial assistance, or local, state or private initiatives are preferable to the 

establishment of a new national park unit. The final product of the study process will be a report to Congress that will 

include a recommended course of action to protect resources and provide opportunities for public use and enjoyment of 

the area. Please follow the progress of the study on the Honouliuli website and send comments to the e-mail address:

pwr_honouliuli@nps.gov.

2 Honouliuli Special Resource Study • Newsletter #1 • February/March 2011

Frequently Asked Questions

http://www.nps.gov/pwro/honouliuli

What are some of the possible outcomes of the study?

How will this study affect local communities and private property?

Why is the National Park Service conducting this special resource study?

What is a Special Resource Study?
Honouliuli Special Resource Study • Newsletter #1 • February/March 2011 3

About the Study Area

The known historic resources associated with the 

Japanese American internment include seven primary 

sites, where at least ten internees were confined, and six 

secondary sites, where fewer internees were confined. 

In most cases, because of the immediate roundup and 

arrests, existing facilities, including jails, schools, and 

military installations were used to confine the internees. 

One facility on O‘ahu, at Honouliuli Gulch, was 

constructed specifically for the internment of civilians 

and to house prisoners of war.

The thirteen identified sites are the Wailua County Jail, 

Kalaheao Stockade, Lihue Plantation, and Waimea Jail 

on Kaua‘i; the Honouliuli Gulch Internment Camp, U.S. 

Immigration Station, and Sand Island Detention Camp on 

O‘ahu; the Kaunakakai Jail on Moloka‘i; the Lana‘i City 

Jail on Lana‘i; the Wailuku County Jail and Haiku Camp 

on Maui; and the Waiakea Prison Camp and Kilauea 

Military Camp on Hawai‘i Island.

http://www.nps.gov/pwro/honouliuli

Honouliuli Internment Camp, R.H. Lodge photograph, courtesy of 

Hawai‘i’s Plantation Village. 
Honouliuli Special Resource Study National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

http://www.nps.gov/pwro/honouliuli

 The Study Process

1. Public Start-up of the 

Study Process

2.	 Resource Analysis: 

Significance and 

Suitability

3. Feasibility Analysis

4. Development of 

Alternatives

5. Analyze Environmental 

Impacts

6. Draft report

7. Final Report / Transmittal

to Congress

Honouliuli Internment Camp, R.H. Lodge photograph, courtesy of Hawai‘i’s Plantation Village. 

4 Honouliuli Special Resource Study • Newsletter #1 • February/March 2011

Tuesday, February 27, 2011

Honouliuli Day of Remembrance

Japanese America Citizens League

Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. @ Kona Outdoor Circle

76-6280 Kuakini Highway, Kaulua-Kona, HI 96740

Thursday, March 10, 2011

3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. @ Hawaii Japanese Center

751 Kanoelehua Avenue, Hilo, HI 96720

Thursday, March 17, 2011

3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. @ Mitchell Pauole Center

90 Ainoa Street, Kaunakakai, Moloka‘i, HI 96748

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. @ Lana‘i High & Elementary School

555 Fraser Avenue, Lana‘i City, HI 96763

Thursday, March 24, 2011

3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. @ Nisei Veterans Center

Kahului Beach Road (where Kahului transitions with Wailuku), 

Kahului, Maui, HI 96733

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. @ Kaua‘i Veterans Center

3125 Kapule Hwy #1, Lihue, Kaua‘i, HI 96766

Thursday, March 31, 2011

6-8 p.m. @ WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument

Education Center & Lanai (Pearl Harbor Visitor’s Center)

1 Arizona Memorial Road, Honolulu, HI 96818

Public Meeting Schedule

Contact Information

Mail: National Park Service

Honouliuli Special Resource Study

300 Ala Moana Blvd, Ste. 6-226

PO Box 50165

Honolulu, HI 96850

Project Manager:

Suzanne Bott, PhD

(808) 541-2693 ext. 737

E-mail:

pwr_honouliuli@nps.gov

Website: 

http://www.nps.gov/pwro/honouliuli

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior