Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park will celebrate its centennial in 2016/NPS

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park next year will celebrate a century of caring for, and connecting people to, the remarkable landscape, native plants and animals and Hawaiian culture linked with Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes.

To help with the celebration, the park has designed a logo that depicts the three elements that define Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park: culture, geology, and biology.

In the center, Halema‘uma‘u Crater erupts on Kīlauea under a starry night sky. Massive, active Mauna Loa towers above the erupting crater. A nēnē is seen in flight and is a reminder of the success of the park’s nēnē recovery efforts. On the right “hip,” a petroglyph represents the human story behind the lava rock carvings found in the park at Pu‘u Loa Petroglyphs. On the left, the lehua blossom, a sacred flower of Pelehonuamea, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, symbolizes the native ‘ōhi‘a tree found throughout the park.

Centennial events are planned in the park from Jan. 1, 2016, throughout 2016, including a monthly ranger-guided Centennial Hike Series, with a complementary After Dark in the Park program. The park’s annual Cultural Festival & BioBlitz, scheduled for Sat., Aug. 27, 2016 (a fee-free day), will showcase how Hawaiian cultural practices weave science and stewardship together.

The park’s new Centennial web page features a new multimedia video, 100 Years in 100 Seconds, which highlights 100 years of volcanic eruptions in 100 seconds. In a second video, Share Your Story, Park Ranger Andrea Kaawaloa-Okita shares her story as a fourth-generation employee of Hawai‘i Volcanoes and the importance of connecting the next generation to their national park. The web page will be updated with a centennial calendar of events.

Founded on Aug. 1, 1916, Hawai‘i Volcanoes was the 15th national park established in the U.S., and celebrates its centennial anniversary along with the National Park Service itself, which turns 100 on Aug. 25, 2016.