HOWLAND ISLAND 00°48'N 176°38'W General Howland Island is aU. S. possession. By Executive Order (May 13, 1936), the island was placed under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior for administrative purposes. Four Hawaiians were landed by the Coast Guard ship ITASCA at Howland's boat landing - now known as Itascatown. Their presence was designated to insure the American claim against British occupation. They were removed in 1941. Howland is at present uninhabited. Physical Data A coral island roughly kidney-shaped and oriented with its long axis north-south. It is about 1-1/2 miles long and about 1, 000 yards wide; its area is about 400 acres. Maximum elevations are 18 to 20 feet. A fringing reef surrounds the island (completely awash at low tide), and extends for hundreds of yards north and south of the island's north-south axis; the reef is almost completely etched by anastomosing surge channels. Depths fall off rapidly past the reef. The best available boat landing is located at the midpoint of the west coast in the vicinity of the lighthouse. It is the only area offering protection from prevailing easterly winds and high seas. The west (leeward) coast beach is composed of coral sand and slopes up at a gentle angle. The east (windward) coast beach, much narrower, is composed of coral blocks and coral rubble. Behind it the island rises abruptly to a height of about 10 feet. The plant cover is sparse. Only six species of plants exist on Howland: :a variety of bunchgrass, Boerhavia herb, two kinds of purslane or pig weed, and Tribulus bushes, dominate the surface. There is one small "grove'' of stunted kuo trees 1/4 mile southwest of Itascatown. Sea and migratory birds, insects, and abundant marine life, hermit crabs and gray Polynesian rats are also found here. Climate Howland has a mean annual temperature of 83°F. The extreme mean maxima are 89° in September and 86° in March; mean minima are always near 79°F. Extremes recorded are 101° and 71°F. The area asa whole is dominated by trade winds, and while the general direction of the wind is from the east, they are apt to vary between northeast (winter), and southeast (summer). The tendency is for the amount of precipitation to be strongly influenced by changes in the trades. Howland is ina zone of generally low but capricious rainfall; annual precipitation is estimated at 25 inches. Facilities An airfield, built in 1936 for the flight of Amelia Earhart from New Guinea to Howland, is now in complete disrepair. During World War II, the landing field was in use. Brush, however, has grown through the matting making its present condition unusable. Facilities installed during the war have either been removed or are in disrepair. The lighthouse’ is not operational. No other facilities of any sort exist. Howland Island is visited annually by the Coast Guard. 48-1 , VOL Il April 1969