Editing Palmyra Atoll (section)

=== U.S. Territory of Palmyra Island (1959–present) ===
[[File:Palmyra Atoll NWR aerial FWS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Palmyra Atoll viewed from the northwest, 2011]]

When Hawaii was admitted to the United States in 1959, Palmyra was explicitly separated from the new state,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Little Palmyra Atoll Isn't Celebrating |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1870&dat=19590314&id=s5woAAAAIBAJ&pg=949,2258686&hl=en |newspaper=Daytona Beach Morning Journal |location=Daytona Beach |date=March 14, 1959 |access-date=2015-09-29 }}</ref> remaining a federal [[incorporated territory]], to be administered by the secretary of the interior<ref name="DOI OIA"/> under a presidential [[Executive order (United States)|executive order]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Administration of Palmyra Island|series=Executive Order No. 10967 (text)|date=October 10, 1961|url=http://www.palmyraarchive.org/items/show/143|access-date=March 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401003845/http://www.palmyraarchive.org/items/show/143|archive-date=April 1, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:UAS target site (DSC00365).jpg|thumb|A USGS employee does survey work at Palmyra in 2016.]]
[[File:Palmyra Atoll wildlife (DSC00376).jpg|thumb|Wildlife at Palmyra]]
[[File:Line5304 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg|thumb|Islet of Palmyra]]

In 1962, the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] used Palmyra as an observation site during several high-altitude [[nuclear weapon]]s tests high above [[Johnston Atoll]]. A group of about ten men supported the observation posts during this series of tests, while about 40 people carried out the observations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://palmyraarchive.org/items/show/40|title=6th Weather Squadron During Project Dominic|date=1962|publisher=Palmyra Atoll Digital Archive|access-date=July 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401003845/http://palmyraarchive.org/items/show/40|archive-date=April 1, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Alby Mangels]], the Australian adventurer and documentary filmmaker of ''[[World Safari]]'', visited the atoll during his six-year trip in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLiiyzc0_S0 |title=Alby Mangels World Safari visits the Palmyra Atoll |date=February 8, 2017 |publisher=Palmyra Atoll Digital Archive |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref>

In early 1979, the U.S. government began exploring the idea of storing [[nuclear waste]] on remote Pacific islands like Palmyra. Those who knew the island and the region saw no benefit to this idea, commenting on the devastating effects a leak of these storage tanks would create.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://palmyraarchive.org/items/show/53|title=Palmyra Pushed into the Nuclear Age|newspaper=The Honolulu Advertiser|date=1979|access-date=2016-12-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224102017/http://palmyraarchive.org/items/show/53|archive-date=2016-12-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> By 1982 a formal proposal had been written which "analyzes the proposal to store spent nuclear fuel on Palmyra Island, a US territory nearly a thousand miles south of [[Hawaii]]. The proposal has military, political, social, and technical implications."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://palmyraarchive.org/items/show/29|title=National Policy Implications of Storing Nuclear Waste in the Pacific Region|publisher=National Defense University|date=March 12, 1982|access-date=December 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224101520/http://palmyraarchive.org/items/show/29|archive-date=December 24, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The idea was abandoned soon after the proposal, and no such storage facilities were built.

==== ''Sea Wind'' murder ====
In 1974, Palmyra was the site of a murder, and possible double murder, of a wealthy San Diego couple, Malcolm "Mac" Graham and his wife, Eleanor "Muff" Graham.<ref name="scott">{{cite news |url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/oceanwatch/20100614_Palmyras_scads_of_rats_rival_its_crabs_and_birds.html |title=Palmyra's scads of rats rival its crabs and birds |last=Scott |first=Susan |date=2010-06-14 |work=Honolulu Star Advertiser |access-date=2017-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222220347/http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/oceanwatch/20100614_Palmyras_scads_of_rats_rival_its_crabs_and_birds.html |archive-date=2015-02-22 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The mysterious deaths, including the murder conviction of Duane ("Buck") Walker (a.k.a. Wesley G. Walker) for Eleanor Graham's murder, and the acquittal of his girlfriend, Stephanie Stearns, made headlines worldwide, and became the subject of a [[true crime]] book, ''[[And the Sea Will Tell]]'', written by [[Bruce Henderson (author)|Bruce Henderson]] and [[Vincent Bugliosi]], Stearns's defense attorney. The book led to a CBS television miniseries of the same name, starring [[James Brolin]], [[Rachel Ward]], [[Deidre Hall]], and [[Hart Bochner]]; [[Richard Crenna]] played lawyer [[Vincent Bugliosi|Bugliosi]]. The story was retold in ''[[The FBI Files]]''.

Walker and Stearns were arrested in Honolulu in 1974 after returning from Palmyra aboard ''Sea Wind'', the yacht stolen from the Grahams. Because no bodies were found at the time, Walker and Stearns were convicted only for the theft of the yacht. Six years later, a partially-buried, corroded chest was found in a lagoon at Palmyra, containing Eleanor Graham's remains. Walker and Stearns were arrested in Arizona for murder, and Walker was convicted in 1985. Stearns was acquitted in 1986 after her defense argued that Walker had committed the murders without Stearns's knowledge. Because no body or other evidence of Malcolm Graham's death has been discovered, his murder was never formally alleged.

Walker served 22&nbsp;years in the [[United States Penitentiary, Victorville]], California, before receiving parole in 2007. He wrote an 895-page book about his experiences and life on Palmyra Island, in which he denied killing Eleanor Graham. It states they had sexual relations; her husband Malcolm Graham caught them and shot at them in anger, inadvertently killing her. Walker said that the two men had a gunfight the next day and that Malcolm Graham consequently died from a rifle wound.

Walker accused author Vincent Bugliosi – Stearns' lawyer – of [[vainglory]] and exploiting [[class prejudice]] against him and wrote that his lawyer, Earle Partington, was incompetent. Walker did not implicate Stearns in any killing.<ref>{{cite book |title=Palmyra: the True Story of an Island Tragedy |last=Walker |first=Wesley |date=2007 |publisher=B. & E. Press |location=Incline Village, Nevada}}</ref> Walker died in a nursing home following a stroke on April 26, 2010.<ref name="scott"/>
[[File:Palmyra AKK World Discoverer.jpg|thumb|The ship [[MS World Discoverer]] at Palmyra]]

==== Sovereignty challenges (1997–1999) ====
In the late 1990s, Rachel Lahela Kekoa Bolt, a [[native Hawaiian]] heir of Henry Maui, and some of her descendants filed federal lawsuits claiming her inherited interest in Palmyra and challenging the legality of the [[Newlands Resolution]] that annexed Hawaii. The lawsuits [[Hawaiian sovereignty movement|challenged American sovereignty]] over both the State of Hawaii and the United States Territory of Palmyra Island.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Painter et al. v. United States et al. |reporter=Case No. CV96-00685HG |court=D.C. Hawaii |date=1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite court |litigants=Painter v. United States et al. |reporter=Case No. 1:98 CV-01737 |court=D.C. Dist.Col. |date=1999}}</ref> On similar grounds, they [[Intervention (law)|intervened]] in a federal [[marine salvage]] claim for a sunken [[treasure]] ship at Palmyra.<ref name=treasurecase>{{cite court |litigants=William A. Warren v. Unidentified Wrecked Vessel |url=http://palmyraarchive.org/items/show/131|reporter=Case No. CV96-00018SPK |court=D.C. Hawaii |date=1998}}</ref> The cases were dismissed on procedural grounds before trial.

==== National Wildlife Refuge and National Monument ====
[[File:Corl0251 (28226001911).jpg|thumb|[[Humbug dascyllus]] swim among Palmyra corals]]
[[File:Red-footed Booby (5896652469).jpg|thumb|[[Red-footed Booby]] seabird on Palmyra]]
In December 2000, [[The Nature Conservancy]] (TNC) bought most of Palmyra Atoll from the three Fullard-Leo brothers<ref name="DOI OIA"/> for [[coral reef]] [[conservation biology|conservation]] and research. In 2003, a scientific study was published about fossilized coral washing up on Palmyra. This fossilized coral was examined for evidence of the behavior of the effect of [[El Niño]] on the tropical [[Pacific Ocean]] over the past 1,000 years.<ref>K. M. Cobb et al., El Niño/Southern Oscillation and Tropic Pacific Climate During the Last Millennium, ''Nature'', Vol. 424, July 17, 2003</ref> The atoll was purchased for 30 million USD; however, certain areas were later purchased by the United States government.<ref name="nature.com">{{cite web | url=https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-023-01932-y/index.html | title=Invasive palms and WWII damaged an island paradise. Could fungi help to restore it? }}</ref> TNC, [[Island Conservation]], and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manage the island, which is used for research. Major programs have been to eliminate rats and invasive palms.<ref name="nature.com"/> One of the challenges has been understanding how the rich peaty soil that can be found on the island developed on the coral, and one of the overall goals is to maintain biodiversity globally in locations similar to Palmyra.<ref>[https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-023-01932-y/index.html Nature June 2023 Lost world Invasive palms and WWII damaged an island paradise. Could fungi help to restore it? by Virginia Gewin]</ref>

[[File:Green turtle Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chelonia mydas|Green sea turtle]] at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge]]
On January 18, 2001, Secretary of the Interior [[Bruce Babbitt]] issued Secretary's Order No. 3224 designating Palmyra's tidal lands, submerged lands and surrounding waters out to {{convert|12|nmi|km}} from the water's edge as a National Wildlife Refuge.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/palmyraatoll |title=Palmyra Atoll |website=U.S. Department of Interior |access-date=August 5, 2024 }}</ref> Subsequently, the Department of the Interior published a regulation providing for the management of the refuge. 66 Fed. Reg. 7660-01 (January 24, 2001). The pertinent part of the regulation states:

<blockquote>We will close the refuge to [[commercial fishing]] but will permit a low level of compatible recreational fishing for bonefishing and deep water sportfishing under programs that we will carefully manage to ensure compatibility with refuge purposes.&nbsp;... Management actions will include protection of the refuge waters and wildlife from commercial fishing activities.</blockquote>

In March 2003, TNC conveyed {{convert|416|acre|km2}} of the emergent land of Palmyra to the United States to be included in the refuge. In 2005, it added 28 acres to the conveyance. TNC and [[Henry Ernest Cooper]]'s descendants kept their remaining private land tracts.

[[File:Coral reef at palmyra.jpg|thumb|Coral reef at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge]]
The conveyance to TNC from the Fullard-Leos in 2000 was subject to a preexisting commercial fishing license. Then, in 2001, the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]] banned [[commercial fishing]] near Palmyra but allowed [[sport fishing]], as quoted above. In January 2007, the commercial fishing licensees sued the United States in the [[Court of Federal Claims]] alleging that, under the [[Takings Clause#Eminent domain|Takings Clause]], the Interior Department regulation had "directly confiscated, taken, and rendered wholly and completely worthless" their purported property interests. The United States moved to dismiss the lawsuit, and the court granted the motion.<ref>{{Cite court |litigants = Palmyra Pacific Seafoods, L.L.C. v. United States |vol = 80 |reporter = Fed. Cl. |opinion = 228 |court = U.S. Court of Federal Claims |year = 2008 |url= http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/CMILLER.PALMYRA012208.pdf}}</ref> On April 9, 2009, the court's decision was affirmed by the [[Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit]].<ref>{{Cite court |litigants = Palmyra Pacific Seafoods, L.L.C. v. United States |vol = 561 |reporter = F.3d |opinion = 1361 |court = Fed. Cir. |year = 2009 |url= http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/images/stories/opinions-orders/08-5058.pdf}}</ref>

In November 2005, TNC established a new research station on Palmyra to study [[global warming]], coral reefs, [[invasive species]], and other environmental concerns.<ref>{{cite web|title=Opening of The Nature Conservancy Research Station on Palmyra Atoll|publisher=Hawai'i Post|url=http://www.hawaii-post.com/2005-01DEC.html|access-date=August 20, 2010}}</ref>

The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, comprising Palmyra Atoll, [[Baker Island]], [[Howland Island]], [[Jarvis Island]], [[Johnston Atoll]], and [[Kingman Reef]], was established on January 6, 2009, by proclamation of President [[George W. Bush]]. This [[National Monument|national monument]] extends {{convert|50|nmi|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} offshore and is managed by the [[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]]<ref name="monument">{{cite web|url=http://www.fws.gov/pacificremoteislandsmarinemonument/|title=Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument|work=fws.gov|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service|access-date=July 31, 2009|archive-date=March 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324062622/http://www.fws.gov/pacificremoteislandsmarinemonument/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=U.S. Department of Commerce|first=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|title=Discovering the Deep: Exploring Remote Pacific MPAs: Background: Conservation and Research Initiatives at Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research|url=https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1705/background/palmyra/welcome.html|access-date=2021-12-31|website=oceanexplorer.noaa.gov|language=EN-US}}</ref> In 2025, this was renamed [[Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument]].