44 
Whether the forest is declining from changes in soil or drain- 
age conditions, as did the Koolau forests on Maui, from undue 
exposure to excessive winds, or from lack of usual rainfall, the 
fact remains that more trees are dying each year than formerly, 
the staghorn fern is covering up larger areas and preventing a 
new growth of forest trees by natural reproduction, and the 
Hilo grass which is spreading from the main trail along the 
mountain range is each year reaching further into this opened 
forest and providing the same undesirable check to natural tree 
reproduction. 
The cutting of this trail along the mountain summit was an 
acknowledged mistake for it not only was the cause of some 
of the destructive landslides on these steep mountain slopes but 
it is now acting as the focus for the spread, in a zone paralleling 
the trail, of Hilo grass which in seed form has unwittingly been 
brought in on the feet of trampers. 
The continuous use of this trail and the consequent further 
importation of Hilo grass seed on to the area interferes with 
every plan for correcting this undesirable condition which is 
becoming worse each year. 
For the best good of this delicate forest and in the effort to 
take initial steps toward the eradication of the Hilo grass by shad- 
ing it out with new growth and otherwise, I proposed the prohibi- 
tion of tramping on this area by laying before you on April 19, 
1920, with the recommendation that it be adopted, Rule V, a copy 
of which is herewith again presented. 
At the regular Board meeting of May 4, 1920, it was voted 
to defer action on this proposed rule until after a public hearing 
for its discussion. This hearing was duly advertised and held 
on June 9, 1920. At this time the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain 
Club protested the proposed closing of the Olympus-Konahuanui 
trail on the ground that it was a tourist asset. 
The adoption of Rule V was again recommended in my pub- 
lished report for the biennial period ended December 31, 1920. 
On April 28, 1921, at the invitation of the Hawaiian Trail and 
Mountain Club, I delivered a paper, ''Hawaiian Forests and 
Trails" before that body. This was published in the April 1921, 
"The Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist" and in the "Hono- 
lulu Star-Bulletin" of April 30, 1921. At the conclusion of the 
delivery of the paper, the foregoing club voted unanimously to 
plan its excursions so as to interfere as little as possible with 
forest protection. 
In my routine report for the month of April, 1921, I again 
called your attention to my recommendations concerning this rule 
which were still before you but no action was taken. 
