The atoll is closed to the public and travel to the island is
not allowed. Both the US and the Kingdom of Hawaii annexed
Johnston Atoll in 1858, but it was the US that mined the guano
deposits until the late 1880s. Johnston and Sand Islands were
designated wildlife refuges in 1926. The US Navy took over the
atoll in 1934, and subsequently the US Air Force assumed control
in 1948. The site was used for high-altitude nuclear tests in
the 1950s and 1960s, and until late in 2000 the atoll was
maintained as a storage and disposal site for chemical weapons.
Munitions destruction is now complete. Cleanup and closure of
the facility was completed by May 2005. Toxic waste from both
operations is buried on the island. The Fish and Wildlife
Service and the US Air Force are currently discussing future
management options, in the interim Johnston Atoll and the three-
mile Naval Defensive Sea around it remain under the jurisdiction
and administrative control of the US Air Force. Tropical, but
generally dry; consistent northe