A bill introduced this week in the U.S. Senate would, if passed, study the Kau Coast on the Big Island and nine other areas across the country to see if they’d be suitable locations for national parks.

Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island and Haleakala National Park on Maui are the only two national parks in Hawaii. There are 58 national parks in the United States.

Other areas on the list to be studied are the island of Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands, five World War II Japanese-American internment sites on the mainland and some of the Aleutian Islands.

The proposal, Senate Bill 3399, was introduced July 18 by New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman with no cosponsors. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

— Michael Levine

Photo from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Facebook page