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Hi! Iʻm Chuck Danilowski, and I am the Custom Project Management Specialist for Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association (HPPA). I ensure that any custom-made products that you purchase in our national park visitor center stores or online shop move efficiently through the Creative Services Department from initial design concept to final finished product on park store shelves. Our national park partners, and the stores we run within them, are located in Hawaiʻi and American Samoa.
 
I recently attended the Public Lands Alliance (PLA) Annual Convention & Trade Show in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Public Lands Alliance is a national organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of America’s public lands through its mission to connect, strengthen, and represent the nonprofit organizations that support these treasured places. HPPA is a member of PLA.
 
It was my first time attending this amazing gathering of like-minded professionals. There were informative and eye-opening educational sessions, a two-day trade show with vendors from across the U.S., a silent auction, and the chance to network with people I had only known through emails or phone calls. It was a time to put faces with names, and to browse product offerings that we may bring into our visitor center park stores to teach, inform, and connect to a lasting memory in someone’s mind of their national park experience. 
 
The theme of the conference was Power of Place: the ways cultural and natural landscapes shape, strengthen, and inspire us. Many session speakers spoke about looking forward while remembering where we came from...but also pushing toward the future in partnership with each other and our shared love of national parks. That was my overwhelming takeaway: Relying on public lands partnerships will see us through any challenge, and can be a way to bring about change in a challenging world and environment. 
 
I also connected with product vendors. Our goal at HPPA is to be innovators in products that connect visitors to our national park partners through a feeling they had, a site they viewed, a trail they walked, a cultural experience they had, or a native species they learned about. As a self-described “hat geek,” I met with one vendor who illustrates stunning panoramic park landscapes and translates them to embroidered hats. I imagine someone noticing that unique hat and potentially being reminded of an amazing sunrise over Sliding Sands Trail at Haleakalā National Park, or the fountaining volcano at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
 
During the trade show, I met someone who had recently traveled to Hawaiʻi Island in the hopes of seeing Kīlauea Volcano erupt. I couldn't help but be transported with him as he described seeing a summit eruption grow from tiny lava trickles to 1,000-foot fountains, and the awe he felt with the eruption roar so close to him. He hiked trails, birdwatched, and photographed native forest birds (and showed us the pictures!) Whenever I passed him during the rest of the trade show, I saw his face lighting up as he told his story to others. His daughter had taken home an HPPA-designed custom nēnē (Hawaiian goose) plush to commemorate the trip and seeing those wonderful geese in the park, in person.
 
Attending a conference like this drives home, for me, what all of us at HPPA strive for: to inspire stewardship and connection to our extraordinary national park partners. Our sales proceeds are donated to these parks to help support endangered wildlife programs, school programs, community outreach projects, and much more. The nēnē plush that a family purchases at our visitor center park store helps protect native species, and reminds visitors of their park experience—and of the aloha behind everything we strive to do.

Our curated collection for our national park partners is here.

Learn more about PLA.

Connect to our history.

It’s easy to think they’ve always been here. You walk into a visitor center in a national park and there’s the store. Shelves of books you won’t find anywhere else. Locally made art. Field guides. A child picking out her first patch, plush, or postcard. It feels like part of the park itself. But these stores didn’t just appear. They grew out of a mission to help people connect more deeply to the places they were visiting.

Back in 1916, the National Park Service was established to care for a small but growing group of parks, including Hawaiʻi National Park which, at that time, included both Maui and Hawaiʻi Island acreage. As more people began visiting these new public lands across the nation, they wanted more than just a quick look. They wanted to understand what they were seeing—the wild landscapes, the history of the people there, the stories of the past and ideas about the future. National park staff were overwhelmed by the tides of visitors exploring "America's Best Idea", and couldn’t manage it all alone. In 1920, the Yosemite Museum Association was founded and stepped in to help. They began offering books and educational materials to visitors, creating a new kind of partnership, one that focused on education, connection, and support.

That idea made its way to Hawaiʻi in 1933 with the founding of the Hawaii Natural History Association (HNHA) at what is now Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. From the beginning, its purpose was clear: Support the parks. Serve the visitor. By the 1940s, visitors to Kīlauea Volcano could stop at a small overlook built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and find books, journals, maps, certificates, and simple items to help them remember their visit.

Over time, both the national parks and our partnerships with them grew. In 1961, Hawaii National Park was divided into Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on Hawaiʻi Island, and Haleakalā National Park on Maui. Over the following decades, the association expanded its support to Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, the National Park of American Samoa, and the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail.

In 2011, HNHA took on a new name and a new branding identity: the Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association, or HPPA.

Today, HPPA serves as an official nonprofit partner to the National Park Service across Hawaiʻi and American Samoa. Our mission still centers on connection and park support, and our many visitor center stores and online shop are one part of that. HPPA frontline staff, and carefully curated sales items, help people understand where they are, why that matters, and how they can be part of caring for the parks they love.

The goal has never been just retail. Every item you touch, consider, and take home with you was chosen or developed with intention and partnership with NPS staff to tell the many stories of the park. We curate a collection of books that deepen understanding, and a wide array of other products that reflect an important sense of place. We partner with local artists and makers. We work to offer items that will carry the story of the park beyond the visit.

And then there’s what happens next. Proceeds from those purchases are donated back to the parks. They help fund education programs for local students, support cultural practitioners who share local knowledge and tradition, contribute to conservation work, and improve the visitor experience. Over time, that adds up. Since 1933, more than $35 million has been raised and donated to our park partners.

HPPA is also part of a larger national network. Across the country, more than 60 nonprofit cooperating associations support over 300 National Park Service sites. So, when you step into a visitor center park store, you’re stepping into  an over-one hundred year history. You are now part of a partnership that started small and grew as the National Park Service did; one that continues today with every purchase that tells a wonderful story, and that helps give back.

It’s a simple idea, really, for us and for you. Get inspired, make that connection, preserve the parks we all love.

Read more about our history.

Shop to support the national parks.

Check out our last Impact Reports.

IMGS: HPPA/NPS archives

If you plan to visit the National Park of American Samoa, you may meet HPPA's Melekuini in the fascinating visitor center and park store. This U.S. national park in the South Pacific is remote, but it is visited by cruise ships all year long, as well as dedicated independent travelers. HPPA loves to tell the story of this incredible place, our partner, through the products we sell and the park programs and projects we help fund with those proceeds. You may pick up a fun fruit bat shirt or a coconut crab puzzle kit, and while you're there, you may meet this remarkable person. Here is her story.

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I started working for the Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association at the National Park of American Samoa on September 19, 2025. Before that, my journey in the park first began when I became a KUPU conservation intern with the National Park Service. At first I worked in trail maintenance, caring for our native plants and spending long days out in the forest. That experience really deepened my love and respect for the land. Later, I transitioned into park interpretation, where I was able to connect with visitors and share what makes this place so special. I later interned with the American Conservation Experience, where I gained even more skills and helped lead the dendrology program. During my term, I earned certifications in Oxygen Use, Emergency First Response, CMS, and FEMA. Those opportunities strengthened both my skills and my confidence. Altogether, these experiences helped me realize that I wanted to continue working in a national park, protecting the environment while sharing knowledge and Samoan culture with others.

Read more: Meet Melekuini: Rooted in Culture at the National Park of American Samoa

If your 2026 plans include visiting our national park partners in Hawaiʻi, lace up your hiking shoes and get ready to wander. From cool, fern-shaded forests to sandy footpaths tracing lava rock coastlines, national park trails in Hawaiʻi offer something for every pace and interest. With routes ranging from short and gentle to long and rugged, inspiration is never far away. And our park stores carry maps and guides to help you find your way.

Read more: Hiking Hawaiʻi Is a Walk in the (National) Park

National Park Service (NPS) Ranger Jon Jokiel recently retired from Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park on Hawaiʻi Island, one of three national parks on the west coast of the island that interpret, protect, and preserve Hawaiian sites, culture, and values. We asked him to reflect a bit on his career and on his thoughts about how the park's long partnership with HPPA helped to support the important work of this national historical park. HPPA runs the visitor center park store and also supplies direct aid to the park for programs and projects.

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I grew up in the community of Kaneohe on the island of Oʻahu. My father was a marine biologist and he helped start the University of Hawaiʻi Marine Lab on Coconut Island, so during my childhood I was in the ocean a lot of the time. I was surfing, swimming, diving, and playing with my brothers. I did not think I would specifically be a park ranger someday, but I think I knew I would do something related to protecting and working in an outdoor environment. Then I moved to the Pacific Northwest as an adult and really immersed myself in the outdoors—hiking and exploring the North Cascades and Olympic Mountains. Seeing NPS park rangers out there on the trails really appealed to me, and I admired the work they did helping others protect and interpret the environment.

Read more: Guiding Hands and Lasting Memories: Retired NPS Ranger Jon Jokiel on the Power of Park Programs...

Every holiday season, our online shop hub (based inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park) becomes a flurry of activity as people across Hawaiʻi, the U.S., and beyond choose gifts that support the national parks of Hawaiʻi and American Samoa. And behind each order is a real person who cares deeply about where your purchase goes and what it supports. Hi! I’m Kiry Galapir, and I’ve been part of Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association since 2007, joining the HPPA ʻohana just before an eruption of Kīlauea Volcano! Today, I manage the lively world of online orders and our commitment to sustainable packing. When you place an online order, I am the one who makes sure you get your package.

Here’s a peek at how your holiday national parks gifts and other purchases make their way from our warehouse on Hawaiʻi Island to your doorstep:

• Coffee First

Every good packing day begins with a cup of coffee—fuel for the season’s steady stream of thoughtful shoppers.

Read more: Where Gifts Give Back: Behind the Scenes at HPPA’s Online Shop

It’s always fun to talk about bats in October. Here at HPPA, where we love bats, we like to call them “sky puppies”!

Our six partner national park sites in Hawaiʻi are all places where you can try to catch a glimpse of the cute little fuzzball known as the Hawaiian hoary bat. “Hoary” means frosted, like “hoarfrost”, and here it describes a mature bat whose deep, glossy, brown fur is tipped with white. These bats can also have a tan collar and ears, with fancy black ear tips. Their Hawaiian name is ʻōpeʻapeʻa (oh pay uh pay uh) and they are pretty small—only 24 grams when fully grown. That is about the same weight as a AA battery. Their little wingspans max out at just about a foot wide. Small bats like this are called “microbats”.

Because of the difficulty of reaching these remote islands for just about any animal, the ʻōpeʻapeʻa is the only native land mammal in Hawaiʻi, and listed as an endangered species. Most scientists say that it is closely related to the North American hoary bat, and arrived in the islands a ~10,000 years ago, probably pulled along by the winds of a huge storm or series of storms.

Read more: Going To Bat for Bats

Do you know about The National Park of American Samoa? It is not only the most remote national park in the National Park Service system, it’s also located below the equator. What a biodiversity and cultural gem it is!

Rainforest to Reef

This park spans three islands—Tutuila, Taʻū, and Ofu—and protects tropical rainforest as well as some of the most beautiful coral reef you will ever see or experience (if you go, which you should). A kaleidoscope of fluttery, brightly-colored reef fish dances beneath the sea surface. The stunning, extensive reef has over 900 species of fish, and is also famous for its giant clams. Both the endangered hawksbill and the threatened green sea turtle nest on the park’s beaches and forage in its lagoons—hawksbills prefer sea sponges, and green sea turtles prefer algae.

Two different species of flying foxes, also called fruit bats, might soar gracefully overhead if you’re lucky, on their way to the forest to munch on fruit. Called Peʻālofa & Peʻāvao in Samoan, these large fruit bats are the park’s signature species. As the bats move through the forest they, er, distribute the fruit seeds, which makes them a highly valued forest-building critter. Around the HPPA offices we call them “sky puppies.”

Read more: Below the Equator: The Almost-Secret Wonders of the National Park of American Samoa