Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Evolution

The evolution of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was a long legislative process involving many dedicated people.

1909 – President Theodore Roosevelt created the Hawaiian Islands Reservation in response to the over-harvesting of seabirds, and in recognition of the importance of the NWHI as seabird nesting sites.

1940 – Its status was later upgraded to the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1988 – Establishment of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.

1993 – Establishment of Kure Atoll State Wildlife Sanctuary.

2000 – Establishment of NWHI Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve.

2000 – President Bill Clinton established the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. Clinton’s executive order initiated a process to designate the waters of the NWHI as a National Marine Sanctuary.

2005 – Governor of Hawaii Linda Lingle declared parts of the monument a state marine refuge.

2006 – President Bush and his wife viewed a screening of the documentary film Voyage to Kure at the White House along with its director, Jean-Michel Cousteau (son of documentary film maker Jacques-Yves Cousteau). Compelled by the film’s portrayal of the flora and fauna of the region, Bush moved quickly to protect the area by signing a proclamation designating the waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument under the 1906 Antiquities Act. Using the Antiquities Act bypassed the normal year of consultations. The legislated process had already taken five years of effort, but the abrupt establishment of the NWHI as a National Monument, rather than a Sanctuary, provided immediate and more resilient protection, revocable only by an act of the United States Congress.

2007 – President Bush amended the proclamation, giving the monument the Native Hawaiian name, “Papahānaumokuākea”.

2007 – President Bush announced his intention to submit the monument for Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) status, which would “alert mariners to exercise caution in the ecologically important, sensitive, and hazardous area they are entering.”

2008 – the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization adopted the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument as a PSSA.

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