36 
trails which were opened some years ago for the benefit of 
tourists. 
*'You are very well aware, and even the layman here knows, 
that the opening of and use of these trails means the destruction 
of our forests. 
"I understand that you have arranged a conference with Mr. 
Ford and the members of the Trail and Mountain Club and 
propose to restrict the opening of trails to a limited area of 
our mountain district. I believe that in making these restrictions 
it would be well for you to err on the side of prescribing a large 
area rather than a small one. 
"We are all very much interested in conserving these forests, 
and a tremendous amount of damage can be done unless they 
are carefully guarded." 
The wet native forest is composed of a society of plants liv- 
ing together in cooperative harmony and protecting each other. 
The upper story of light-demanding trees give shade to and pro- 
tect the lower or second story of shade-enduring undergrowth, 
such as bushes, ferns, mosses, etc. The plants in the lower story 
could not exist but for the shade of the trees over them, and 
they in turn retain the moisture for and give food in the form 
of decomposed vegetable matter to the shallow-rooted systems 
of the trees under which they thrive. 
Through long association these two main plant forms have 
accustomed themselves to each other and when one is disturbed 
the other will suffer. With the removal of the lower story or 
undergrowth, the absence of the protective cover for the roots 
of the trees induces changes in soil conditions, the roots dry out 
for lack of moisture and proper plant food, the trees are weak- 
ened, are exposed to the attacks of injurious insects and wood- 
destroying fungi, lose their vigor, and eventually die. 
Any disturbing element which enters and begins to change 
these ideal conditions of plant association will upset the balance 
of nature in the native forest with disastrous results. When once 
this happens and is allowed to continue, the forest is doomed. 
Foreign plants, which as a rule are faster growing than indi- 
genous ones, when once introduced into the healthy Hawaiian 
forest are able to force back the native undergrowth and con- 
quer the ground so completely that the trees suffer as described 
above and are not able to reseed themselves through the thick 
matted ground cover. These changes may continue until finally 
the once dark, wet forest composed of trees, vines, ferns, under- 
growth and moss, a combination ideal for preventing excessive 
runoff and keeping the soil porous, will disappear and will be 
superseded by a barren open, useless waste, inoperative as to 
water conservation and often covered with introduced grasses 
and plants with perhaps here and there a few dead trees to 
testify to what once occupied the land in a useful capacity. 
