View source for Jarvis Island

{{Short description|Coral island in the South Pacific Ocean}}
{{Infobox islands
| name             = Jarvis Island
| sobriquet        = Bunker Island
| image_name       = JarvisISS008-E-14052.PNG
| image_size       = 300
| image_caption    = [[NASA]] satellite photo of Jarvis Island showing the submerged reef beyond the eastern end
| map              = Oceania
| map_caption      = Location of Jarvis Island in the Pacific Ocean
| location         = South Pacific Ocean
| coordinates      = {{coord|-0.372|-159.996|type:isle_scale:30000_region:UM-86|display=inline,title}}
| etymology        = Edward, Thomas and William Jarvis
| archipelago      = Line Islands
| area_km2         = 4.5
| length_km        = 3.26
| width_km         = 2.22
| coastline_km     = 8.54
| elevation_m      = 7
| country          = United States
| country_admin_divisions_title = Status
| country_admin_divisions = [[Territories of the United States|unincorporated]]
| population       = 0 
| timezone1        = [[Samoa Time Zone]]
| utc_offset1      = -11:00
| footnotes        = {{Infobox protected area
 | alt_name = '''Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge''' 
 | iucn_category = Ia
 | designated = 1974
 | child = yes
 | website = {{url|www.fws.gov/refuge/jarvis-island}}}}
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}

'''Jarvis Island''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|ɑːr|v|ᵻ|s}}; formerly known as '''Bunker Island''' or '''Bunker's Shoal''') is an uninhabited {{convert|4.5|km2||abbr=on|adj=on}} [[coral island]] located in the South [[Pacific Ocean]], about halfway between [[Hawaii]] and the [[Cook Islands]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Darwin |first1=Charles |author-link1=Charles Darwin |last2=Bonney |first2=Thomas George |title=The structure and distribution of coral reefs |year=1897 |publisher=D. Appleton and Company |location=New York |pages=207 |isbn=978-0-520-03282-8}}</ref> It is an [[Territories of the United States#Unincorporated unorganized territories|unincorporated, unorganized territory]] of the United States, administered by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] of the [[United States Department of the Interior]] as part of the [[National Wildlife Refuge]] system.<ref name="doi">{{cite web |url=http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/jarvispage.htm |title=Jarvis Island |publisher=DOI Office of Insular Affairs |access-date=January 26, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207205021/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/jarvispage.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Unlike most coral atolls, the [[lagoon]] on Jarvis is wholly dry.

Jarvis is one of the [[Line Islands]] and, for statistical purposes, is also grouped as one of the [[United States Minor Outlying Islands]]. Jarvis Island is the largest of three U.S. equatorial possessions, which include [[Baker Island]] and [[Howland Island]].<ref>Rauzon, Mark J. (2016). ''Isles of Amnesia: The History, Geography, and Restoration of America's Forgotten Pacific Islands''. University of Hawai'i Press, Latitude 20. Page 38. {{ISBN|9780824846794}}.</ref>

The United States claimed it in the 19th century and mined it for [[guano]]. In the 20th century, it was the subject of a small settlement. It was attacked during [[World War II]] and evacuated, leaving some buildings and a [[day beacon]]. In modern times, it is managed as a [[nature reserve]].

==Geography and ecology==
[[File:Jarvis Island.svg|thumb|left|Orthographic projection over Jarvis Island]]
While a few offshore anchorage spots are marked on maps, Jarvis Island has no ports or harbors, and swift currents are a hazard. There is a boat landing area in the middle of the western shoreline near a crumbling [[day beacon]] and another near the island's southwest corner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact2003/geos/dq.html#Trans|title=Jarvis Island|publisher=[[CIA]]|work=[[The World Factbook]]|year=2003|access-date=January 26, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908234411/http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact2003/geos/dq.html#Trans|archive-date=September 8, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> The center of Jarvis island is a dried [[lagoon]] where deep [[guano]] deposits accumulated, which were mined for about 20 years during the nineteenth century. The island has a [[Desert island|tropical desert climate]], with high daytime temperatures, constant wind, and intense sun. Nights, however, are quite cool. The ground is mostly sandy and reaches {{convert|23|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} at its highest point. The low-lying coral island has long been noted as hard to sight from small ships and is surrounded by a narrow [[fringing reef]].

Jarvis Island is one of two United States territories that are in the [[Southern Hemisphere]] (the other is [[American Samoa]]). Located only {{convert|25|mi}} south of the [[equator]], Jarvis has no known natural [[Lens (hydrology)|freshwater lens]] and scant [[rainfall]].<ref>Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, ''[https://www.fws.gov/pacific/planning/main/docs/HI-PI/HBJ/Jarvis%20Draft%20CCP.pdf Jarvis Island NWR Draft CCP EA]'', August 2007, retrieved November 25, 2010: "No information is available on the subsurface hydrology of Jarvis Island. However, its small size and prevailing arid rainfall conditions would not likely result in a drinkable groundwater lens formation. During staff visits to Jarvis, potable water is carried in containers to the island for short visits."</ref><ref name="United States Pacific Island Wildli">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states-pacific-island-wildlife-refuges/ |title=United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges |access-date=January 26, 2007}}</ref> This creates a very bleak, flat landscape without any plants larger than shrubs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jarvisisland.info/pbif.html|title=Jarvis Island – Pacific Biodiversity Information Forum photographs|access-date=January 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211192134/http://jarvisisland.info/pbif.html|archive-date=February 11, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> There is no evidence that the island has ever supported a self-sustaining human population. Its sparse [[bunch grass]], prostrate [[vine]]s, and low-growing shrubs are primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging [[habitat]] for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife.<ref name="doi"/>

Jarvis Island was submerged during the latest interglacial period, roughly 125,000 years ago, when sea levels were {{convert|5|to|10|m|sp=us}} higher than today. As the sea level declined, the horseshoe-shaped lagoon formed in Jarvis Island's center.<ref>Rauzon, Mark J. (2016). ''Isles of Amnesia: The History, Geography, and Restoration of America's Forgotten Pacific Islands''. University of Hawai'i Press, Latitude 20. Page 48. {{ISBN|9780824846794}}.</ref>

=== Topographic isolation ===
Jarvis Island's highest point has a [[topographic isolation]] of {{convert|380.57|km|mi nmi|sp=us}}, with Joe's Hill on [[Kiritimati#Geography|Kiritimati]] being the nearest higher neighbor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=11924 |title=Jarvis High Point, U.S. Minor Pacific Islands |access-date=October 18, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=34935 |title=Joes Hill, Kiribati |access-date=October 18, 2020}}</ref>

=== Time zone ===
Jarvis Island is located in the [[Samoa Time Zone]] (UTC -11:00), the same [[time zone]] as [[American Samoa]], [[Kingman Reef]], [[Midway Atoll]], and [[Palmyra Atoll]].

===Birds===
Jarvis Island once held some of the largest [[seabird]] breeding colonies in the tropical ocean. Still, guano mining and the introduction of rodents have ruined much of the island's native wildlife. Eight breeding species were recorded in 1982, compared to thirteen in 1996 and fourteen in 2004. The [[Polynesian storm petrel]] had made its return after over 40 years of absence from Jarvis Island, and the number of [[Brown noddy|brown noddies]] multiplied from just a few birds in 1982 to nearly 10,000. Just twelve [[spectacled tern]]s were recorded in 1982, but by 2004, over 200 nests were found there.<ref>Rauzon, Mark J. (2016). ''Isles of Amnesia: The History, Geography, and Restoration of America's Forgotten Pacific Islands''. University of Hawai'i Press, Latitude 20. Pages 38 and 56. {{ISBN|9780824846794}}.</ref> The island, with its surrounding marine waters, has been recognized as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] because it supports [[bird colony|colonies]] of [[lesser frigatebird]]s, [[brown booby|brown]] and [[masked booby|masked boobies]], [[red-tailed tropicbird]]s, Polynesian storm petrels, [[blue noddy|blue noddies]] and [[sooty tern]]s, as well as serving as a migratory stopover for [[bristle-thighed curlew]]s.<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/jarvis-island-iba-united-states-minor-outlying-islands-(to-usa)|title= Jarvis Island|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 23 January 2021}}</ref>

==History==
===Prehistory===
Jarvis Island is unlikely to have hosted permanent human occupation before its use for guano mining. However, it is possible the island was utilized as a waypoint or stopover island by Polynesian voyagers. The remoteness of the island and a lack of freshwater resources have prevented large-scale archaeological surveys from taking place.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/DownloadFile/165841 |title=Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge: Comprehensive Conservation Plan |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |date=24 September 2008 |access-date=1 June 2022}}</ref>
[[File:Jarvis Island Guano Tramway.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Remains of a [[guano]] tramway on Jarvis Island, looking west with 125-year-old heaps of mined but never-shipped guano in the background near the day beacon]]

===Discovery===
The island's first known sighting by the British on August 21, 1821, by the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] ship ''[[Eliza Francis]]'' (or ''Eliza Frances'') owned by Edward, Thomas and William Jarvis<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jarvisisland.info/north_pacific_pilot.html#282 |title=North Pacific Pilot page 282 |access-date=January 26, 2007 |format=png |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211192130/http://jarvisisland.info/north_pacific_pilot.html#282 |archive-date=February 11, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.mq.edu.au/scnsw/Cases1833-34/html/r_v_higgins_and_others__1833.htm |title=R. v. Higgins, Fuller, Anderson, Thomas, Belford and Walsh |access-date=January 25, 2007 |work=legal proceeding |archive-date=October 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015233302/http://www.law.mq.edu.au/scnsw/Cases1833-34/html/r_v_higgins_and_others__1833.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> and commanded by Captain Brown. The island was visited by whaling vessels until the 1870s.

The [[U.S. Exploring Expedition]] surveyed the island in 1841.<ref name="Stanton">{{cite book|last1=Stanton|first1=William|title=The Great United States Exploring Expedition|date=1975|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0520025578|pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/232 232]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/232}}</ref>  In March 1857 the island was claimed for the United States under the [[Guano Islands Act]] and formally annexed on February 27, 1858.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Orent |first1=Beatrice |last2=Reinsch |first2=Pauline |date=1941 |title=Sovereignty over Islands in the Pacific |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0002930000136759/type/journal_article |journal=American Journal of International Law |language=en |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=443–461 |doi=10.2307/2192452 |jstor=2192452 |issn=0002-9300|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Nineteenth-century guano mining===
The American Guano Company, incorporated in 1857, established claims regarding Baker Island and Jarvis Island, recognized under the U.S. [[Guano Islands Act]] of 1856.<ref>{{cite web|title = GAO/OGC-98-5 – U.S. Insular Areas: Application of the U.S. Constitution | date = November 7, 1997|url= http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OGC-98-5/content-detail.html|publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=March 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = The Guano Companies in Litigation—A Case of Interest to Stockholders | date = May 3, 1865 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1865/05/03/news/guano-companies-litigation-case-interest-stockholders-supreme-court-general-term.html |newspaper=New York Times |access-date=March 23, 2013}}</ref> Beginning in 1858, several support structures were built on Jarvis Island, along with a two-story, eight-room "superintendent's house" featuring an observation [[cupola]] and wide [[verandah]]s. Tram tracks were laid down to bring mined [[guano]] to the western shore.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=O'Donnell |first=Dan |date=1995-01-01 |title=The nineteenth century Pacific guano trade |url=https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/INFORMIT.859044115656143 |journal=The Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=27–32}}</ref> One of the first loads was taken by [[Samuel Gardner Wilder]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Samuel Gardner Wilder |title= The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders |year=1925 |publisher= [[Honolulu Star Bulletin]] |editor= George F. Nellist |chapter-url= http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/bios/wilder65bs.txt }}</ref>
Laborers for the mining operations came from around the Pacific, including from Hawai{{okina}}i; the Hawaiian laborers named Baker Island "{{lang|haw|Paukeaho}}", meaning 'out of breath' or 'exhausted', which is indicative of the hard work needed.<ref name=":2">{{cite report|title=Early Cultural and Historical Seascape of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument: Archival and Literary Research Report|first1=Jesi|last1=Quan Bautista|first2=Savannah|last2=Smith|date=2018|number=SP-19-005|publisher=NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center|doi=10.25923/fb5w-jw23|page=3}}</ref>

For the following 21 years, Jarvis was commercially mined for guano sent to the United States as [[fertilizer]]. The island was abruptly abandoned in 1879, leaving behind about a dozen buildings and {{convert|8,000|t|ST|sp=us}} of mined guano.

[[File:Squire Flockton death 47059637 1465956622.jpg|thumb|News story of Squire Flockton's death on Jarvis. The name ''Juror's Island'' in the article is a typographical error for Jarvis Island.<ref>''Auckland Star'', Volume XIX, Issue 3978, 28 April 1883. [https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18830428.2.12 p. 2.]</ref>]]
New Zealand [[entrepreneur]]s, including photographer [[Henry Winkelmann]], then made unsuccessful attempts to continue guano extraction on Jarvis, and the two-story house was sporadically inhabited during the early 1880s. Squire Flockton was left alone on the island as caretaker for several months and committed [[suicide]] there in 1883, apparently from [[gin]]-fueled despair.<ref name="Cushman2013">{{cite book|author=Gregory T. Cushman|title=Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbIEXKafflMC&pg=PA98|date=25 March 2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-00413-9|pages=98–}}</ref> His wooden [[Headstone|grave marker]] was a carved plank which could be seen in the island's tiny four-grave [[cemetery]] for decades.<ref name="SA">{{cite web|first=Sydney |last=Arundel |title = Kodak photographs, Jarvis Island| year = 1909|url= http://www.jarvisisland.info/arundel.html|publisher= Steve Higley|access-date=April 23, 2013}}</ref>

[[John T. Arundel|John T. Arundel & Co.]] resumed mining guano from 1886 to 1899.<ref name="Ellis 1935">{{cite book |last1= Ellis |first1= Albert F. |author-link1= Albert Fuller Ellis |title= Ocean Island and Nauru; Their Story |year= 1935 |publisher= Angus and Robertson, limited|location= Sydney, Australia |oclc= 3444055 }}</ref><ref name="WM1985">{{cite book |last1= Maslyn Williams & Barrie Macdonald |title= The Phosphateers |year=1985 |publisher= Melbourne University Press |isbn=978-0-522-84302-6}}</ref> The United Kingdom annexed the island on June 3, 1889. [[Phosphate]] and [[copra]] entrepreneur [[John T. Arundel]] visited the island in 1909 on the maiden voyage of the ''S.S. Ocean Queen'', and near the beach landing on the western shore, members of the crew built a pyramidal [[day beacon]] made from slats of wood, which was painted white.<ref name="SA"/> The beacon was standing in 1935,<ref name="EHB">{{cite web|last= Edwin H. Bryan, Jr. |title = Panala'au Memoirs | year = 1974|url= http://www.jarvisisland.info/arundel.html|publisher= Pacific Scientific Information Center – Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii|access-date=April 23, 2013}}</ref> and remained until at least 1942.

===Wreck of barquentine ''Amaranth''===
[[File:Amaranth (barquentine).png|thumb|upright|left|The ''Amaranth'' at sea]]

On August 30, 1913, the [[barquentine]] ''[[Amaranth (barquentine)|Amaranth]]'' (C. W. Nielson, captain) was carrying a cargo of [[coal]] from [[Newcastle, New South Wales]], to [[San Francisco]] when it [[Shipwreck|wrecked]] on Jarvis' southern shore.<ref name=":2" /> Ruins of ten wooden guano-mining buildings, the two-story house among them, could still be seen by the ''Amaranth'' crew, who left Jarvis aboard two [[lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]]s. One reached [[Pago Pago]], [[American Samoa]], and the other made [[Apia]] in [[Samoa]]. The ship's scattered remains were noted and scavenged for many years, and rounded fragments of coal from the ''Amaranth'''s [[hold (ship)|hold]] were still being found on the south beach in the late 1930s.<ref>Bryan, E.H. [http://www.janeresture.com/jarvis/ "Jarvis Island"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525213226/http://www.janeresture.com/jarvis/ |date=May 25, 2017 }} Retrieved: July 7, 2008.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tengan |first=Ty P. Kawika |date=2004 |title=Of colonization and Pono in Hawai'i |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1040265042000237699 |journal=Peace Review |language=en |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=157–167 |doi=10.1080/1040265042000237699 |issn=1040-2659|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Millersville (1935–1942)===
{{Main|American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project}}
{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | width = 220
 | image1 = Government House on Jarvis Island (80-CF-798677-9).jpg
 | image2 = Camp at Jarvis Island (80-CF-798677-7).jpg
 | footer = Settlers erected makeshift campsites on Jarvis Island during the [[American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project]].
}}
[[File:Men left at Jarvis Island (80-CF-798677-14).jpg|thumb|Four residents wave goodbye.]]
Jarvis Island was reclaimed by the United States government and colonized from March 26, 1935, onwards, under the [[American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McConnell |first=D. R. |date=2024-04-29 |title=Prospects for Marine Minerals in the US Pacific OCS and EEZ |url=https://onepetro.org/OTCONF/proceedings/24OTC/2-24OTC/D021S023R001/544923 |journal=Paper Presented at the Offshore Technology Conference |publisher=OTC |doi=10.4043/35266-MS|url-access=subscription }}</ref> President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] assigned administration of the island to the [[U.S. Department of the Interior]] on May 13, 1936.<ref name="doi"/> Starting as a cluster of large, open tents pitched next to the still-standing white wooden day beacon, the Millersville [[Human settlement|settlement]] on the island's western shore was named after a [[bureaucrat]] with the [[United States government role in civil aviation|United States Department of Air Commerce]]. The settlement grew into a group of shacks built mostly with wreckage from the ''Amaranth'' (lumber from which was also used by the young [[Hawaii]]an colonists to build [[surfboard]]s), but later, stone and wood dwellings were built and equipped with refrigeration, radio equipment, and a weather station.<ref>Bryan, Edwin H., Jr. [http://www.jarvisisland.info/panalaau_memoirs.html#photos Panala'au Memoirs.] Retrieved: July 7, 2008. Contains several photos of the Millersville settlement and a diary of events in the colony.</ref> A crude aircraft landing area was cleared on the island's northeast side, and a T-shaped marker intended to be seen from the air was made from gathered stones, but no airplane is known to have ever landed there. According to the [[1940 U.S. census]], Jarvis Island had a population of three people.<ref>{{cite United States census|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1940/population-volume-1/33973538v1ch11.pdf|title = Sixteenth Census of the United States: Population, Volume I, Number of Inhabitants, Hawaii (Table 4)|year=1940|location=Washington, D.C.|page=1211|accessdate=October 29, 2021}}</ref>

At the beginning of [[World War II]], an [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] [[submarine]] surfaced off the west coast of the island. Believing that a [[U.S. Navy]] submarine had come to fetch them, the four young colonists rushed down the steep western beach in front of Millersville towards the shore. The submarine answered their waves with fire from its deck gun, but no one was hurt in the attack. On February 7, 1942, the [[USCGC Taney (WHEC-37)|USCGC ''Taney'']] evacuated the colonists, then shelled and burned the dwellings. The roughly cleared landing area on the island's northeast end was later shelled by the Japanese, leaving crater holes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.att.net/~higley.family/sub1.htm |title=History of Jarvis Island |access-date=January 25, 2007 |work="World War Two" section of article. }} Shell holes were later noted in the aircraft landing area.</ref>
[[File:Map of Kiribati CIA WFB.png|thumb|left|upright=1.25|Map of the central Pacific Ocean showing Jarvis and neighboring islands.]]

===International Geophysical Year===
Jarvis was visited by scientists during the [[International Geophysical Year]] from July 1957 until November 1958. In January 1958, all scattered building ruins from the nineteenth-century guano diggings and the 1935–1942 colonization attempt were swept away without a trace by a severe storm that lasted several days and was witnessed by scientists. When the IGY research project ended, the island was abandoned again.<ref>The IGY station chief was Otto H Homung (d. 1958), who apparently died on the island and may have been buried there.</ref> By the early 1960s, a few sheds, a century of accumulated trash, the scientists' house from the late 1950s, and a solid, short lighthouse-like [[day beacon]] built two decades before were the only signs of human habitation on Jarvis.

==National Wildlife Refuge==
[[File:Coral at Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge.jpg|thumb|Coral at Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge]]
[[File:Corl0141 (27328449664).jpg|thumb|Grey reef shark in the waters of Jarvis Island]]
On June 27, 1974, Secretary of the Interior [[Rogers Morton]] created Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge, which was expanded in 2009 to add submerged lands within {{convert|12|nmi|km}} of the island. The refuge now includes {{convert|1273|acre|km2}} of land and {{convert|428580|acre|km2}} of water.<ref>{{cite web | last = White | first = Susan | title = Welcome to Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge | publisher = U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | date = October 26, 2011 | url = http://www.fws.gov/jarvisisland/ | access-date = March 4, 2012 | archive-date = September 4, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140904070329/http://www.fws.gov/jarvisisland/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> Along with six other islands, the island was administered by the [[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]] as part of the Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex. In January 2009, that entity was upgraded to the [[Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument]] by President [[George W. Bush]].<ref>{{cite web | last = Bush | first = George W. | author-link = George W. Bush | title = Establishment of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument: A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America | publisher = [[White House]] | date = January 6, 2009 | url = https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2009/01/20090106-6.html | access-date = March 4, 2012}}</ref>

A [[feral cat]] population, descendants of cats likely brought by colonists in 1937,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hess |first1=S. C. |last2=Jacobi |first2=J. D. |date=2011 |title=The history of mammal eradications in Hawai'i and the United States associated islands of the Central Pacific |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70175012 |journal=Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives |language=en |pages=67–73}}</ref> wrought disruption to the island's wildlife and vegetation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rauzon |first=Mark J. |date=1985 |title=Feral cats on Jarvis Island: their effects and their eradication |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5479/si.00775630.282.1 |journal=Atoll Research Bulletin |volume=282 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.5479/si.00775630.282.1 |issn=0077-5630|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kirkpatrick |first1=Ralph D. |last2=Rauzon |first2=Mark J. |date=1986 |title=Foods of Feral Cats Felis catus on Jarvis and Howland Islands, Central Pacific Ocean |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2388365 |journal=Biotropica |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=72 |doi=10.2307/2388365|jstor=2388365 |bibcode=1986Biotr..18...72K |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Including the complete removal of rats, but not the mice,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Dilley |first1=Ben J. |last2=Schramm |first2=Michael |last3=Ryan |first3=Peter G. |date=2017 |title=Modest increases in densities of burrow-nesting petrels following the removal of cats (Felis catus) from Marion Island |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00300-016-1985-z |journal=Polar Biology |language=en |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=625–637 |doi=10.1007/s00300-016-1985-z |bibcode=2017PoBio..40..625D |issn=0722-4060|url-access=subscription }}</ref> which had been introduced to the island previously.<ref name=":0" /> These cats were removed through efforts which began in the mid-1960s and lasted until 1990 when they were completely eradicated.<ref>{{cite web | title = Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge | publisher = U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | url = http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=12513 | access-date = March 4, 2012}}</ref> Since cats were removed, seabird numbers and diversity have increased.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Rauzon |first1=M. J. |last2=Forsell |first2=D. J. |last3=Flint |first3=E. N. |last4=Gove |first4=J. M. |date=2011 |title=Island Invasives: Eradication and Management |chapter=Howland, Baker and Jarvis Islands 25 years after cat eradication: the recovery of seabirds in a biogeographical context |url=http://www.issg.org/pdf/publications/Island_Invasives/pdfHQprint/3Rauzon.pdf |page=346 |access-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-date=October 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010035527/http://www.issg.org/pdf/publications/Island_Invasives/pdfHQprint/3Rauzon.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Among the seabirds that returned to Jarvis Island with [[Gray-backed Tern|gray-backed terns]] rebuilding quickly and [[Petrel|petrels]] taking longer to reestablish themselves on the island.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Nineteenth-century tram track remains can be seen in the dried lagoon bed at the island's center, and the late 1930s-era lighthouse-shaped [[day beacon]] still stands on the western shore at the site of Millersville.

Public entry to anyone, including U.S. citizens, on Jarvis Island requires a special-use permit and is generally restricted to scientists and educators. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the [[United States Coast Guard]] periodically visit Jarvis.<ref name="United States Pacific Island Wildli"/>

== Transportation ==
{{Infobox lighthouse | qid = Q33417143
| mapframe-zoom = 1
| shape = circular truncated tower, no lantern<ref>{{Cite rowlett|umi|accessdate=2016-11-07}}</ref>
}}
There is no airport on the island, nor does the island contain any large terminal or port. A day beacon near the middle of the west coast is in poor condition and no longer painted. Some offshore anchorage is available.<ref name="cia.gov">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states-pacific-island-wildlife-refuges/|title=The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-09-06}}</ref>

== Military ==
As a U.S. territory, the defense of Jarvis Island is the responsibility of the United States. The laws of the United States apply when applicable.<ref name="cia.gov"/>

==See also==
* [[Howland and Baker islands]]
* [[List of Guano Island claims]]
* ''[[Under a Jarvis Moon]]'', an 88-minute 2010 documentary
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|d=Q62218|c=Category:Jarvis Island|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=Jarvis Island|q=no|s=no|species=no|wikt=no}}
* [http://www.jarvisisland.net/ Jarvis Island Home Page] Website with photos, weather, and more.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929100512/http://jarvisisland.info/ Jarvis Island information website] Has several photos of the old Millersville settlement, together with more modern photos of the island.
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/US_minor.html WorldStatesmen] Offers brief data on Jarvis Island.
* [https://www.fws.gov/refuge/jarvis-island U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge] The Jarvis Island refuge site.

{{United States political divisions}}
{{Territories of the United States}}
{{Protected areas of the United States Minor Outlying Islands}}
{{National Wildlife Refuges of the United States}}
{{Authority control | additional=Q33417143}}

[[Category:Jarvis Island| ]]
[[Category:Pacific islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act]]
[[Category:Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Oceania]]
[[Category:Uninhabited Pacific islands of the United States]]
[[Category:Island restoration]]
[[Category:Pacific Ocean atolls of the United States]]
[[Category:United States Minor Outlying Islands]]
[[Category:National Wildlife Refuges in the United States insular areas]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1974]]
[[Category:Coral islands]]
[[Category:1889 establishments in the British Empire]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of United States Minor Outlying Islands]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of the Line Islands]]
[[Category:Seabird colonies]]