Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

Charles Wilber Rogan

George W. C. Jones

Mark Twain in Hawaiʻi

Prince Kūhiō

On behalf of the Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers Directorate, we are pleased to congratulate the national recipients of the 2021 George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Through their extraordinary work and dedication, these volunteers have made an exceptional contribution to their parks and communities.

View 2022 recipients of the National Park Service Excellence in Education Awards, which recognize expertise within the field of education.

View the recipients of the 2023 National Park Service Excellence in Interpretation Awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the practice of interpretation and education by NPS employees.

As we reflect on 2022, we offer you 22 interesting and exciting science and nature events from parks of the national park system. From a brief, yet dramatic eruption of the world's largest active volcano to celebrating the 60th anniversary of the National Natural Landmarks program, 2022 was filled with amazing moments.

Humor is a form of commentary that often reveals serious truths. Cartoonists combine artistic talents with razor-sharp wits to shine light on political and social issues. In most cases, those artists are external observers. In the National Park Service (NPS), employees in the 1960s to 1980s drew cartoons, published in official newsletters, that provide unique insights into NPS organizational culture, working conditions, and employees' concerns—many of which still exist today.

Archeologists at the University of Hawai’i Mānoa and National Park Service staff at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park want to know more about the stone walls - kuaiwi - in the Kaʻū Field System. Why did ancient Hawaiians build them and what can they teach modern farmers about cultivating a more sustainable future?

How far can you hear a sound from a specific place on Earth? An active space is a spatial guide that provides an answer to that question. We used a new, observer-based, audibility modelling toolkit, NPS-ActiveSpace v2.0.0, to measure aircraft noise in two national parks. The toolkit produced estimates of active space that land managers can use to reduce the effects of air tour noise.

The 'Ainahou Ranch House and Gardens is located within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, approximately four miles south and down slope from Kilauea Caldera. The 13.3-acre historic site sits within a native mesic forest at an elevation of 3000 feet. Within this forest, gardens that surround a unique craftsman house create an exotic setting which reflects the site's development by renowned horticulturalist, Herbert C. Shipman from 1941 to 1971.