255 



Hilo town — I regard the Wailuku as one of, if not the, most 

 important stream protected by a forest reserve in the Territory. 

 It might be possible, if the work were done under careful re- 

 strictions, to remove some of the mature trees from the Piihonua 

 forest without detriment to its water conserving qualities. But 

 to make lumbering profitable the operations would have to be con- 

 ducted on a large scale. This would inevitably involve the open- 

 ing up of considerable areas in sections where a complete forest 

 cover is most needed. Such a policy on this particular water shed! 

 would be fraught with danger. It is a risk which I do not believe 

 the Territory should take. For the money to be obtained as 

 stumpage would in no way compensate for the injury that would 

 result were the regular flow; of the Wailuku River seriously in- 

 terfered with. 



For this reason I am opposed to lumbering the forest on Pii- 

 honua. 



Second : The forest policy of the Territory has been and is to 

 create a chain of forest reserves that are essentially "protection 

 forests." On the leeward side of the island, where because of the 

 absence of running streams watershed protection does not figure, 

 I am in favor of utilizing the merchantable timber. But on the 

 windward side of Hawaii I believe that the forest in the several 

 established forest reserves should for the most part be kept in- 

 tact, at any rate for the present. 



If this is so in general it is particularly true of the Hilo Forest 

 Reserve; for with the growing importance of Hilo town and the 

 Hilo District, through the construction of the breakwater and the 

 building of the Hilo-Kohala Railroad, the streams coming from 

 the reserve will be needed more than at any time in the past. 



Considering the large area of privately owned land in the Ha- 

 waiian forest reserves it is essential that a uniform a^;jd consistent 

 policy of forest protection be maintained, in order that the owners 

 of this land may be brought to cooperate with the Government 

 in its management. The granting of logging rights on such a 

 land as Piihonua would, I fear, tend to weaken the public senti- 

 ment that supports the reserve work, if indeed it did not react un- 

 favorably on the whole forest policy of the Territory. 



Therefore, on this count also, I believe the logging of Piihonua 

 to be inexpedient. 



Third: My third reason is from a professional standpoint. 

 Forestry rests on a business as well as on a scientific basis. In the 

 consideration of such a problem as the lumbering of the Piihonua 

 forest, the factor of whether or not it would pay is an essential 

 one. 



Even were it desirable that lumbering should be permitted, it 

 would in my judgment be necessary, in order to safeguard the 

 favorable conditions of stream flow that now exist, to load the con- 



