475 
reserve  is  at  present  fenced  and  will  continue  to  be  maintained  by 
that  company  as  it  has  been  for  the  past  twenty  years.  For  the 
present  the  gulch  lands  at  the  northwest  end  of  the  mountain  are 
not  in  need  of  artificial  barriers. 
It  may  perhaps  be  appropriate  to  note  here  that  the  owners  of 
private  land  within  the  proposed  Kohala  Mountain  Forest  Reserve 
are  in  full  sympathy  with  the  aims  and  object  of  the  Government 
in  creating  the  reserve  and  in  recommending  the  reservation  of 
this  area.  As  has  already  been  stated  the  Bishop  Estate  is,  next 
to  the  Government,  the  largest  owner  of  land  in  the  reserve,  con- 
trolling as  it  does  33  per  cent. 
Because  of  the  present  inability  of  the  Government  to  provide 
for  the  definite  and  systematic  administration  of  its  forest  reserves 
through  a forest  ranger  organization,  the  Trustees  of  the  Bishop 
Estate  are  not  ready  to  turn  their  lands  over  to  this  department 
for  management,  but  they  are  perfectly  willing  that  their  forest  be 
included  within  the  reserve  limits,  as  it  is  their  intention  to  con- 
tinue themselves  to  maintain  these  lands  as  a forest  reserve. 
Much  the  same  is  the  condition  under  which  the  private  forest 
reserve  of  the  Pacific  Sugar  Mill  is  included  as  a part  of  the 
Kohala  Mountain  Forest  Reserve,  except  that  in  this  case  the 
inclusion  of  these  lands  gives,  as  it  were,  an  official  recognition  of 
the  far  sightedness  of  that  company. 
For  over  twenty  years  the  Pacific  Sugar  Mill  has  maintained 
at  its  own  expense  some  2,800  acres  of  land  as  a private  forest 
reserve.  This  area  protects  the  source  and  catchment  area  of  the 
Lalakea  stream,  tributary  to  the  Waipio  Gulch,  which  is  used  on 
the  plantation,  and  also  Kukuihaele  Spring,  near  Kukuihaele,  one 
of  the  very  few  sources  of  water  in  Hamakua  that  can  be  de- 
pended on  even  in  long  periods  of  drought.  When  the  reserve 
was  established  much  of  the  land  was  fairly  open.  Thanks  to 
continued  protection  by  carefully  kept  up  fences  there  has  resulted 
a marked  increase  in  vegetation  through  natural  reproduction. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  the  last  few  years,  when  original  condi- 
tions have  been  more  nearly  approached  by  the  coming  back  of 
ferns,  shrubs  and  small  trees. 
The  planting  of  introduced  forest  trees  has  also  helped  in  this 
regard. 
Because  of  its  running  streams  and  its  proximity  to  the  densely 
forested,  section  to  the  west  of  Waipio  Gulch  the  Kukuihaele 
private  forest  reserve  is  in  a different  case  from  the  remainder  of 
the  Hamakua  forest  belt.  This  being  so  different  treatment  is 
indicated  and  the  permanent  reservation  of  the  area  becomes  a 
step  of  economic  wisdom. 
The  other  principal  holders  of  private  land  in  the  proposed 
Kohala  Mountain  Reserve,  the  Kohala  Sugar  Company  and  the 
Parker  Ranch  are  also  in  favor  of  the  creation  of  the  reserve  and 
have  manifested  their  interest  in  a tangible  way  by  the  erection 
and  maintenance  of  forest  fences  along  certain  portions  of  the 
reserve  boundary  and  by  keeping  under  forest  certain  lands  which 
