Johnston Atoll
Johnston Atoll is an unincorporated territory of the United States, under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF). The island is closed to public entry, and limited access for management needs is only granted by letter of authorization from the USAF. A special use permit is also required from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to access the island by boat or enter the waters surrounding the island, which are designated as a National Wildlife Refuge and part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. The Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge extends from the shore out to 12 nautical miles, continuing as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System out to 200 nautical miles. The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument extends from the shore out to 200 nautical miles.
Johnston Atoll
United States
March 19, 1858
Captain Charles James Johnston, HMS Cornwallis
Administered as a National Wildlife Refuge
Laura Beauregard, Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
1.03 sq mi (2.67 km2)
157,389 sq mi (407,635 km2)
30 ft (10 m)
0 ft (0 m)
10 (staff scientists)
127
UM
The isolated atoll has been under the control of the U.S. military since 1934.[1] During that time, it was variously used as a naval refueling depot,[2] an airbase,[3] a testing site for nuclear[4] and biological weapons,[5] a secret missile base,[6] and a site for the storage and disposal of chemical weapons[7] and Agent Orange.[8] Those activities left the area environmentally contaminated. The USAF completed remediating the contamination in 2004, and today performs only periodic monitoring.[9]
The island is home to thriving communities of nesting seabirds and has significant marine biodiversity. USAF and USFWS teams carry out environmental monitoring and maintenance to protect the native wildlife.[10]
The first list of plants catalogued on Johnston Atoll was published in Vascular Plants of Johnston and Wake Islands (1931), based on collections from the Tanager Expedition (1923). Three species were described: Lepturus repens, Boerhavia diffusa, and Tribulus cistoides. In the 1940s, when the island was used for aviation activities for the war, Pluchea odorata was introduced from Honolulu.[20]
History[edit]
Early history[edit]
The first Western record of the atoll was on September 2, 1796, when the Boston-based American brig Sally accidentally grounded on a shoal near the islands. The ship's captain, Joseph Pierpont, published his experience in several American newspapers the following year giving an accurate position of Johnston and Sand Island along with part of the reef, but did not name or lay claim to the area.[21] The islands were not officially named until Captain Charles J. Johnston of the Royal Naval ship HMS Cornwallis sighted them on December 14, 1807.[22] The ship's journal recorded: "on the 14th [December 1808] made a new discovery, viz. two very low islands, in lat. 16° 52′ N. long. 190° 26′ E., having a dangerous reef to the east of them, and the whole not exceeding four miles in extent".[23]
In 1856, the United States enacted the Guano Islands Act, which allowed citizens of the United States to take possession of islands containing guano deposits. Under this act, William Parker and R. F. Ryan chartered the schooner Palestine specifically to find Johnston Atoll. They located guano on the atoll in March 1858 and proceeded to claim the island as U.S. territory.[24] In June of the same year, S. C. Allen, sailing on the Kalama under a commission from King Kamehameha IV of Hawaiʻi, landed on Johnston Atoll, removed the American flag, and claimed the atoll for the Kingdom of Hawaii. Allen named the atoll "Kalama" and the nearby smaller island "Cornwallis."[25][26]
Returning on July 27, 1858, the captain of the Palestine again hoisted the American flag and tried to acquire the island in the name of the United States. The same day, the "derelict and abandoned" atoll was declared part of the domain of Kamehameha IV.[26] On its July visit, however, the Palestine left two crew members on the island to gather phosphate. Later that year, Kamehameha revoked the lease granted to Allen when he learned the atoll had been claimed previously by the United States.[24] However, this did not prevent the Hawaiian Territory from making use of the atoll or asserting ownership.
By 1890, the atoll's guano deposits had been almost entirely depleted (mined out) by U.S. interests operating under the Guano Islands Act. In 1892, HMS Champion made a survey and map of the island, hoping that it might be suitable as a telegraph cable station. On January 16, 1893, the Hawaiian Legation at London reported a diplomatic conference over this temporary occupation of the island. However, the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown on January 17, 1893. When Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898, during the Spanish–American War, the name of Johnston Island was omitted from the list of Hawaiian Islands. On September 11, 1909, Johnston was leased by the Territory of Hawaii to a private citizen for fifteen years. A board shed was built on the southeast side of the larger island, and a small tramline run up onto the slope of the low hill, to facilitate the removal of guano. Apparently neither the quantity nor the quality of the guano was sufficient to pay for gathering it, so that the project was soon abandoned.[26]
This article incorporates from websites or documents of the United States Government.
