Input sought on camp’s designation

Meetings will be held statewide to receive public input on the potential inclusion of the Hono­uli­uli Internment Camp into the National Park System.

Officials will present key findings of a draft special resources study and environmental assessment. The study evaluates 17 sites that include Hono­uli­uli and represent the history of internment in Hawaii. Officials also will answer questions and provide the opportunity for the public to submit comments.

After comments are reviewed, a final report, to include recommendations by the secretary of the interior, will be sent to Congress.

Paul DePrey, superintendent of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, strongly encourages the public to participate in the meetings. "We want to include the community’s interest on the historical preservation of Hono­uli­uli and other sites in the final report that will be represented to Congress," he said.

The study points out the need for management by the National Park Service of the historic site in partnership with other organizations to protect resources and share stories associated with it. The Park Service also determined the internment camp is "a feasible addition to the park system conditional upon securing public access to the site."

Honouliuli Gulch is a half-mile from the H-1 freeway and west of Kunia Road. The landowner, Monsanto Hawaii, has expressed interest in donating the property to the Park Service for preservation.

By March 1943 the camp had been constructed to confine about 320 internees. Most of the internees were second-generation Japa­nese-Americans. Japa­nese, German and Italian nationals also were confined at the camp.

"Honouliuli was the last, largest and longest-used World War II confinement site in Hawaii," the report said. Along with internees, nearly 4,000 prisoners of war from Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan and Italy were confined at the camp.

For more than 10 years, the Japa­nese Cultural Center of Hawaii has been researching, documenting and educating the public on Hono­uli­uli and Hawaii’s internment history.

"The special-resource study and the community hearings that are scheduled brings us another step closer in preserving Hawaii’s internment camps and preserving stories of Japa­nese-Americans who were interned during World War II in Hawaii," said Executive Director Carole Haya­shino.

The draft special-resource study is available for public review and comment at www.nps.gov/pwro/hono­uli­uli. Comments, to be accepted until July 15, also can be emailed to pwr_hono­uli­uli@nps.gov or mailed to the National Park Service, Hono­uli­uli Gulch and Associated Sites SRS, Park Planning & Environmental Compliance, 909 First Ave., Suite 548, Seattle, WA 98104.