While the next president was fretting over Florida’s bogged down election, the current president began this week with a great big aloha for Hawaii’s heritage. On Monday, President Clinton signed acts granting new protection for the centuries-old Ala Kahakai trail
While the next president was fretting over Florida’s bogged down election, the
current president began this week with a great big aloha for Hawaii’s
heritage.
On Monday, President Clinton signed acts granting new protection
for the centuries-old Ala Kahakai trail and giving a thumbs-up to expansion of
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, both on Big Island. The U.S. Secretary of the
Interior will now oversee the trail’s maintenance and uses, and the federal
government can now acquire land next to the park.
Beginning in 1400, the
175-mile trail was the major land route connecting 600 or more Hawaiian
communities for 300 years, making it a big part of Hawaiian history and
culture. Its new federal designation as a historic trail puts it in the company
of only six other trails in the U.S., including the Lewis and Clark
Trail.
The park, home to Mauna Loa, the world’s most active volcano and
one of the most famous, displays 70 million years worth of eruptive activity
and evolution. The park’s diverse environments highlight Hawaii’s volcanic
heritage.
A few strokes of Clinton’s pen capped the efforts of Hawaii’s
congressional delegation to preserve and celebrate two of the state’s natural
treasures.
