Protected areas

Several areas in Hawaii are under the protection of the National Park Service. Hawaii has two national parks: Haleakala National Park near Kula, on Maui, includes Haleakalā, the dormant volcano that formed east Maui; and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in the southeast region of the island of Hawaiʻi, which includes the active volcano Kīlauea and its various rift zones.

There are three national historical parks: Kalaupapa National Historical Park in Kalaupapa, Molokaʻi, the site of a former Hansen’s disease colony; Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park in Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawaiʻi; and Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, an ancient place of refuge. Other areas under the control of the National Park Service include Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail on the Big Island and the USS ArizonaMemorial at Pearl Harbor on Oʻahu.

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was proclaimed by President George W. Bush on June 15, 2006. The monument covers roughly 140,000 square miles (360,000 km²) of reefs, atolls and shallow and deep sea out to 50 miles (80 km) offshore in the Pacific Ocean, larger than all of America’s National Parks combined.

The National Park Service (NPS) is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations.It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through theNational Park Service Organic Act.

It is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior, a federal executive department whose head, the Secretary of the Interior, is a Cabinet officer nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Most of the direct management of the NPS is delegated by the Secretary to the National Park Service Director, who must also be confirmed by the Senate.

The 21,989 employees of the NPS oversee 394 units, of which 58 are designated national park.

Flora and fauna

Because the islands are so far from other land habitats, life before human activity is said to have arrived by the “3 W’s”: wind, waves, and wings. This isolation, and the wide range of environments produced a vast array of endemic flora and fauna. Hawaii has more endangered species and has lost a higher percentage of its endemic species than any other U.S. state.

   

  

Geology

All the Hawaiian islands were formed from volcanic activity initiated at an undersea magma source called a hotspot. As the tectonic plate beneath much of the Pacific Ocean moves to the northwest, the hot spot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. Due to the hotspot’s location, the only active volcanoes are located around the southern half of the Big Island. The newest volcano, Lōʻihi Seamount, is located south of the Big Island’s coast.

The last volcanic eruption outside the Big Island occurred at Haleakalā on Maui before the late 18th century, though it could have been hundreds of years earlier. In 1790, Kīlauea exploded with the deadliest eruption  known to have occurred in what is now the United States.As many as 5,405 warriors and their families marching on Kīlaueawere killed by that eruption.

Volcanic activity and subsequent erosion have created impressive geological features. The Big Island has the third highest point among the world’s islands.

Slope instability of the volcanoes has generated damaging earthquakes with related tsunamis, particularly in 1868 and 1975.

 Nā Pali coast, Kauaʻi

Pāhoehoe and ʻAʻā lava flows side by side at the Big Island of Hawaiʻi in September, 2007