Of the eight islands in the main Hawaiian group, Kahoolawe is the smallest. Here are a few facts about this little island:

Kahoolawe is the only one of the Hawaiian Islands with no permanent population. It is, in fact, a dramatic example of human destruction. Fewer than 7 miles from Maui, the island is very dry, but it still maintained a native population during pre-European times from perhaps around A.D. 1000. There are good fishing grounds off the island and there might have once been good potential for agriculture. Many archaeological sites can be found there, including religious structures, petroglyphs, and a significant adze quarry. After the Europeans' arrival, a penal colony was located there between 1826 and 1859.

The destruction of the island's ecology began in the mid-nineteenth century, when the island was used for cattle ranching. Overgrazing denuded the landscape and accelerated erosion. In 1925, the U.S. Army Air Corps began using the island for military exercises, and on December 8, 1941, the U.S. government took the island over for use as a bombing range. For several decades thereafter, the island served as a target. Between the overgrazing and the bombing, the island was essentially denuded.

Eventually, native Hawaiian groups were successful in preventing the further abuse of the island. A group calling itself the “Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana” (PKO) was created in 1976 with the goal of restoring the island physically, as a sacred place, and as a Hawaiian place of refuge and spiritual regeneration. In 1981, Kahoolawe was put on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1990, President George H. W. Bush ordered a stop to the bombing of the island. In 1993, the U.S. Congress voted to cease military activities and return the island to the State of Hawaii. They also provided funds for a ten-year cleanup effort with the return of the island to full state administrative control in November 2003.

Also in 1993, the State of Hawaii established the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve, setting the island aside for traditional Hawaiian cultural practices. Kahoolawe was formally signed over to the state the following year. Scientists and volunteers continue to be active in efforts to restore vegetation on the island in order to preserve what's left of its topsoil, with the ultimate goal of restoring this special place to a healthy environment.