Would you like an up close and personal view of the big lava flow that’s making its way into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park? You’ll need to make a long trek over dangerous, unmarked terrain. Check with park officials first.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park came into being as a component of Hawaii National Park in 1916, but it it wasn't until September 22, 1961, that it became a stand-alone unit. The fireworks for its 47th "stand-alone birthday" are being provided by Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. An eruption that began March 19 has yielded half a dozen explosive eruptions, a roiling lake of lava, and a mile-high ash plume.
Hawaii’s national parks are attracting fewer visitors than last year. As of July, attendance tallies were down nearly 10% for the year and showing signs of getting worse, especially at the parks located furthest from the main tourism/convention hub at Honolulu.
This week’s quiz tests your knowledge of geologic features and processes in the national parks that lie within the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that rings the Pacific Basin. Answers are at the end. If we catch you peeking, we'll make you write "convergent boundary" 100 times on the whiteboard.
Many nonnative plant and animal species that have invaded our national parks pose a danger to the native species. On Hawaii’s Big Island, invasive plants are threatening to wreak ecosystem havoc in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. To combat this onslaught, the Park Service uses manual and mechanical removal, herbicide spraying, and biological controls.
A substantial surge in sulfur dioxide gases being vented in the Halema'uma'u Crater at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has prompted park officials to prepare an evacuation plan. For now, though, trade winds and rain seem to be safely dispersing the gases.
One of the most intriguing interpretive tours I’ve joined across the national park system was the “wild cave tour” offered at Mammoth Cave National Park. For six or more hours in sections of the cave off-limits to the more traditional tours we scooted through tight places on our bellies when not able to get by on hands and knees.