page_title: Kahoʻolawe
section_title: Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve
hierarchical_section_title: Kahoʻolawe / Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve
caption_attribution_description: English: Irrigation tubing running along the red dirt of Kahoolawe as a crew works to plant new life in the hard packed soil.
context_page_description: Kahoʻolawe anglicized as Kahoolawe is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoʻolawe is located about seven miles southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lānaʻi, and it is 11 mi long by 6.0 mi wide, with a total land area of 44.97 sq mi. The highest point on Kahoʻolawe is the crater of Lua Makika at the summit of Puʻu Moaulanui, which is about 1,477 feet above sea level. Kahoʻolawe is relatively dry because the island's low elevation fails to generate much orographic precipitation from the northeastern trade winds, and Kahoʻolawe is located in the rain shadow of eastern Maui's 10,023-foot-high volcano, Haleakalā. More than one quarter of Kahoʻolawe has been eroded down to saprolitic hardpan soil, largely on exposed surfaces near the summit.
  Kahoʻolawe has always been sparsely populated, due to its lack of fresh water. During World War II, Kahoʻolawe was used as a training ground and bombing range by the Armed Forces of the United States. After decades of protests, the U.S. Navy ended live-fire training exercises on Kahoʻolawe in 1990, and the whole island was transferred to the jurisdiction of the state of Hawaii in 1994.
context_section_description: In 1993, the Hawaiian State Legislature established the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve, consisting of "the entire island and its surrounding ocean waters in a two mile (three km) radius from the shore". By state law, Kahoʻolawe and its waters can be used only for Native Hawaiian cultural, spiritual, and subsistence purposes; fishing; environmental restoration; historic preservation; and education. All commercial uses are prohibited.
  The legislature also created the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission to manage the reserve while it is held in trust for a future Native Hawaiian sovereign 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. 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. Species used for revegetation include ʻaʻaliʻi (Dodonaea viscosa), ʻāheahea (Chenopodium oahuense), kuluʻī (Nototrichium sandwicense), Achyranthes splendens, ʻūlei (Osteomeles anthyllidifolia), kāmanomano (Cenchrus agrimonioides var. agrimonioides), koaiʻa (Acacia koaia), and alaheʻe (Psydrax odorata).
  In July 2015, a Business Plan for the Restoration of Hawaiian Bird Life and Native Ecosystems on Kaho‘olawe was proposed in partnership with KIRC, Island Conservation, DLNR, The Nature Conservancy, Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana, HDOA, American Bird Conservancy, and USFWS. The plan outlines the restoration of Kaho‘olawe Island through the removal
  of feral cats (Felis catus), rats (Rattus exulans) and mice (Mus musculus). The document investigates and addresses the biological, cultural, financial, and regulatory implications associated with the eradication.
caption: Irrigation tubing running atop the red soil of Kahoʻolawe as a crew works to plant new life in the hard-packed ground
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