Land, History, and the Law

This essay examines the history of land acquisition in creating Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park during the period after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the annexation of the islands to the United States. Its specific focus are the land condemnations and exchanges that went into creating what is known as the Kalapana Extension, an area of active lava flows along the area known as the East Rift Zone. I examine the implications of this history for our understanding of "the public" and conservation’s best legal principal, the public trust doctrine.