National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Honouliuli Gulch and Associated Sites Final Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment August 2015 We are pleased to provide you with this copy of the Honouliuli Gulch and Associated Sites Final Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment. This report has been prepared to provide Congress and the public with information about the resources in the study area and how they relate to criteria for inclusion within the national park system. Publication and transmittal of this report should not be considered an endorsement for a commitment by the National Park Service to seek or support either specific legislative authorization for the project or appropriation for its implementation. The Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for this document was signed on October 15, 2014. Photo credits Front and back covers: Barracks and tents at Honouliuli, c. 1945, by R. H. Lodge. Courtesy of Hawai'i’s Plantation Village. Front inside cover: Remaining World War II-era structure, Honouliuli Internment Camp. Photo: Valentino Valdez. Back inside cover: Extant fence post with barbed wire, Honouliuli Internment Camp. Photo: Valentino Valdez. HONOULIULI GULCH AND ASSOCIATED SITES Final Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment AUGUST 2015 Produced by the Pacific West Regional Office Park Planning and Environmental Compliance San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, DC Final Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment for HONOULIULI GULCH AND ASSOCIATED SITES August 2015 The National Park Service (NPS) prepared the Honouliuli Gulch and Associated Sites Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment to determine whether the Honouliuli Internment Camp and associated World War II internment sites in Hawai‘i are nationally significant, suitable, and feasible for inclusion in the national park system. Congress authorized this study in 2009. The study evaluates 17 sites. Through the special resource study process, the NPS made the following determinations about the study sites: Ő The Honouliuli Internment Camp and the U.S. Immigration Station on the island of O‘ahu are nationally significant for their central role as internment sites in Hawai‘i during World War II. They meet all four of the NPS criteria for national significance. The other 15 sites associated were used for shorter periods of time, interned fewer numbers of people, or have been substantially changed since the period of significance. As such, they do not meet the criteria for national significance. Many of these sites are, however, listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and/or provide opportunities to further interpret the history of internment in Hawai‘i during World War II. Ő The Honouliuli Internment Camp and the U.S. Immigration Station depict a distinct and important aspect of American history associated with civil liberties in times of conflict that is not adequately represented or protected elsewhere, and are therefore suitable for inclusion in the national park system. Ő The Honouliuli Internment Camp historic site is a feasible addition to the national park system conditional upon securing public access to the site. The U.S. Immigration Station complex is not a feasible addition to the national park system because the complex is currently used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State of Hawai‘i Department of Health. Ő There is a need for NPS management of the Honouliuli Internment Camp historic site in partnership with others to fully protect resources and to enhance visitor appreciation of the nationally significant resources and important stories associated with it. The NPS evaluated two alternatives in the study. One includes a role for the NPS. Alternative A: Continuation of Management. This is the “no action” alternative. Sites, organizations, and programs significant to the internment history in Hawaiʻi would continue to operate independently by existing landowners, agencies, or organizations without additional NPS management or assistance other than what is currently available through existing authorities and grant programs. Alternative B: Honouliuli National Historic Site or Monument–A Unit of the National Park System. Congress would establish Honouliuli National Historic Site as a new unit of the national park system. Alternatively, a national monument managed by the NPS could be established. The national historic site or national monument would include the historic site of the Honouliuli Internment Camp and adjacent lands that provide access and opportunities for visitor facilities. The NPS would preserve the site and interpret the internment of Japanese Americans and European Americans in Hawaiʻi during World War II. The national historic site or monument would be supported by operational capacity at World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, Pearl Harbor. The NPS could provide technical assistance for the preservation and interpretation of other sites, features, and stories related to internment in Hawaiʻi during World War II. The NPS prepared an environmental assessment to identify and analyze the potential environmental and socioeconomic consequences of the two alternatives. The NPS concluded that alternative B would be the environmentally preferable alternative because it would protect nationally significant resources, provide opportunities for visitors to learn about the internment history in Hawai‘i during World War II, provide greater socioeconomic benefits, and apply long-standing NPS policies and actions to the Honouliuli Internment Camp historic site. View west from the bottom of Honouliuli Gulch. The landforms comprising the gulch create a strong sense of enclosure. Photo: NPS, 2013. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 5: Feasibility and the Need for NPS Management 91 INTRODUCTION 91 Terminology v EVALUATION OF FEASIBILITY FACTORS 91 Acronyms and Abbreviations vii FEASIBILITY CONCLUSION 113 Executive Summary xi DETERMINATION OF NEED FOR NPS MANAGEMENT 115 Chapter 1: Introduction 1 PURPOSE AND NEED 1 Chapter 6: Alternatives 117 STUDY SITES 1 INTRODUCTION 117 STUDY PROCESS 2 OVERVIEW OF THE ALTERNATIVES 117 RELATED STUDIES 4 THE SELECTED ALTERNATIVE 117 MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES NO LONGER UNDER CONSIDERATION 117 Chapter 2: Historical Overview DESCRIPTION OF THE ALTERNATIVES 118 and Resources 5 PART I: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 5 A lte r n a t ive A : C ont i nu a t i on of Current Management PART II: SITES ASSOCIATED WITH (No Action Alternative) 118 THE INTERNMENT IN HAWAI‘I 17 Alternative B (Selected Alternative): H o n o u l i u l i Na t i o n a l H i s t o r i c S i t e Chapter 3: Resource or National Monument— Significance 41 A New Unit of the National CRITERIA FOR NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE 41 Park System 122 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EVENTS: INCARCERATION OF CIVILIANS IN THE Chapter 7: Environmental UNITED STATES DURING WORLD WAR II 42 Consequences 127 NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK INTRODUCTION 127 CRITERIA ANALYSIS 46 IMPACT TOPICS 129 SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY CRITERIA ANALYSIS 50 LAND USE 137 SIGNIFICANCE OF ADDITIONAL SITES WATER RESOURCES 141 ASSOCIATED WITH CIVILIAN INTERNMENT BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES 143 DURING WORLD WAR II 62 CULTURAL RESOURCES 145 NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE CONCLUSION 63 VISITOR USE AND EXPERIENCE 150 SOCIOECONOMICS 153 Chapter 4: Suitability 69 ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE ALTERNATIVE 155 INTRODUCTION 69 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF U.S. MAINLAND AND HAWAI‘I INCARCERATION SITES 69 Chapter 8: Consultation and Coordination 159 NPS THEMATIC FRAMEWORK— PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 159 CULTURAL THEMES 81 AGENCY CONSULTATION 161 CONCLUSION—FINDING OF SUITABILITY 89 LIST OF DRAFT STUDY RECIPIENTS 162 PUBLIC REVIEW OF DRAFT STUDY REPORT 163 Table of Contents i SUMMARY OF PUBLIC COMMENTS 164 Table 5-1: Operating Budgets for RESPONSE TO SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTS Comparable and Related National ON THE DRAFT STUDY REPORT 170 Park Units (FY 2012) 113 Table 5-2: Feasibility Analysis, Summary Table 114 Appendices 175 APPENDIX A: STUDY LEGISLATION 175 Table 6-1: Existing Management of APPENDIX B: 2006 NPS MANAGEMENT Sites Evaluated in the Study 121 POLICIES (SECTIONS 1.2 AND 1.3) 176 Table 7-1: Impact Topics Analyzed 130 APPENDIX C: NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK CRITERIA SEC 65.4 179 Table 7-2: Impact Topics Dismissed 133 APPENDIX D: JAPANESE AMERICAN Table 7-3: Crosswalk for NEPA and WARTIME INCARCERATION PROPERTIES 181 Section 106 Effects 146 APPENDIX E: FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT 186 Table 7-4: Comparison of Impacts 156 APPENDIX F: ERRATA 199 Table 8-1: Public Scoping Workshops, 2011 160 References 227 Table 8-2: Public Meeting LIST OF HISTORICAL IMAGES 227 Attendance, Draft Study Review 163 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 229 Study Team and Preparers 236 Maps Confinement Sites in Hawai‘i during Tables World War II ix Table 1: Existing Management of Sites Mainland Sites Associated with the Evaluated in the Study xxiii Incarceration of Persons of Japanese Descent During World War II 11 Table 2-1: Number of Persons of Japanese Ethnicity Confined in Map of Internment Sites on the Internment Camps in Hawai‘i Island of O‘ahu 18 during World War II (adapted from Okihiro 1992, 267) 15 Honouliuli Internment Camp— Historic Layout and Modern Table 2-2: Sites Associated with the Features 27 Internment in Hawai‘i during World War II 16 Map of Internment Sites on the Island of Hawai‘i 29 Table 3-1: Nationally Significant Sites 64 Map of Internment Sites on the Table 3-2: Sites Listed in the National Island of Kaua‘i 34 Register of Historic Places, where Internment History Enhances or Map of Internment Sites on the May Enhance Their Significance 65 Islands of Maui, Lāna‘i, and Moloka‘i 37 Table 3-3: Sites Associated with Nationally Significant Sites, World War II Internment in Hawai'i Island of O‘ahu 47 R e c o m m e n d e d f o r N o m i n a t i o n t o t h e Land Ownership—Honouliuli National Register of Historic Places 65 Internment Camp 92 Table 3-4: Sites Needing Additional Zoning—Honouliuli Internment Research 66 Camp 96 Table 3-5: Other Sites 67 ii Honouliuli Gulch & Associated Sites Final Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment State Land Use Districts, Island of Oʻahu 97 Land Ownership—U.S.