 The Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect the tropical ecosystem and the wildlife that it harbors.However, the Department of Agriculture had no ships, and the Navy was interested in the Atoll for strategic reasons, so with on December 29, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt placed the islands under the "control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy for administrative purposes," but subject to use as a refuge and breeding ground for native birds, under the Department of Interior.On February 14, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued to create naval defense areas in the central Pacific territories.