Editing Palmyra Atoll (section)

== Tourism ==
[[File:PalmyraSign.jpg|thumb|left|Welcome sign for Palmyra Atoll, June 2005]]

Tourists can visit Palmyra Atoll (unlike most of the U.S. minor outlying islands, which are closed to the public). However, Palmyra Atoll is so challenging to access that few visit it. Visitors must obtain prior approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or [[The Nature Conservancy]].<ref name="visiting">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite web|title=Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge - Visit Us|url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/palmyra-atoll/visit-us|access-date=August 24, 2023|work=fws.gov|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service}} }}</ref> A statement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is as follows:

<blockquote>Public access to Palmyra Atoll is self-limiting due to the very high expense of traveling to such a remote destination. The Nature Conservancy owns and operates the only airplane runway on Palmyra, and by boat it's a 5–7 day sailing trip from Honolulu. There are four ways the public may gain access to the refuge: (1) Working for, contracting with, or volunteering for The Nature Conservancy or Fish and Wildlife Service; (2) Conducting scientific research via Fish and Wildlife Service Special Use Permits; (3) Invitation through The Nature Conservancy sponsored donor trip; (4) Visitation by private recreational sailboat or motorboat.<ref name="visiting"/></blockquote>
[[File:Sunset on Palmyra Atoll.jpg|thumb|Palmyra sunset]]
=== Amateur radio (DX) visitors ===
Since the 1940s, Palmyra's most consistent visitors have been members of [[DXpedition|distance expedition]] ([[DXing#Amateur radio DX|DX]]) teams, as the atoll is a popular spot for these [[amateur radio]] operators. More than 25 expeditions have arrived. Once on the islands, the hams set up radios and antennas and make as many two-way radio contacts with other hams as possible. Former N. California [[DXing#DX Clubs|DX Club]] president Richard Malcolm Crouch became a Palmyra landowner.<ref>''Palmyra Island Land Recordation'' Document No. 93, U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, Honolulu, 2015.</ref>

In June 1974, the [[KP6PA Palmyra Atoll DXpedition|KP6PA DXpedition]] team helped rescue a couple whose ship had run aground on the reefs. The man, Buck Walker, was later convicted of homicide in the much-publicized [[And the Sea Will Tell|''Sea Wind'' murder case]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thecinemaholic.com/muff-and-mac-graham-murders-how-did-buck-duane-walker-die-where-is-stephanie-stearns-now/ |title=Muff and Mac Graham Murders: How Did Buck Duane Walker Die? Where is Stephanie Stearns Now? |date=July 10, 2021 |publisher=The Cinemaholic |access-date=9 June 2022|author-first1=Viswa|author-last1=Vanapalli}}</ref> Two members of the 1980 team were injured severely enough to need an airlift back to Honolulu. The first incident resulted from injuries sustained in a plane crash as the pilot underestimated wind conditions and the poor state of the landing strip. The second injury, to a surgeon, happened when he fell and cut his hands on broken glass. The surgeon then sued the atoll's owners, as he could no longer practice surgery, and the atoll was closed to visitors for most of the 1980s while cleanup activities were undertaken.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.palmyraarchive.org/items/show/67|access-date=March 30, 2018|title=The Perils of Palmyra|date=January 1984|magazine=Honolulu Magazine|author=Betty Fullard-Leo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331104319/http://www.palmyraarchive.org/items/show/67|archive-date=March 31, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>