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A tracing of the Akaka Falls Area working plan was completed dur- 
ing the month, and some time was given to collecting office data on the 
proposed Honouliuli Forest Reserve for which the field work will be 
undertaken in November. 
Respectfully submitted, 
C. J. KRAEBEL, 
Assistant Superintendent of Forestry. 
REPORT OF ASSISANT SUPERINTENDENT OF FORESTRY. 
NOVEMBER, 1922 
December 18, 1922. 
Superintendent of Forestry, 
Honolulu, T. H. 
Dear Sir: The following statement of my activities during November, 
1922, is respectfully submitted: 
PROPOSED HONOULIULI RESERVE 
The principal field project of the month was the general examination 
of the east slope of the Waianae Mountains, southward from Puu Ha- 
papa, with a view to creating a new forest reserve in that region. 
Such a reserve was planned in 1906 by the then Superintendent of 
Forestry, Mr. Hosmer, and a boundary embracing 5,540 acres was actually 
surveyed. But inasmuch as this entire area lay within the private land 
of Honouliuli, many difficulties prevented the culmination of the plan 
at that time, so that, instead of being protected as a forest reserve, 
the land has for a long time been leased for grazing purposes by a local 
ranch company. In consequence of this procedure the native forest, 
which originally clothed the slopes and gulches, has been greatly reduced 
in extent and in many places has disappeared altogether. Small springs 
and streams which used to run perennially in many of the gulches have 
been dry for years, and the whole region shows signs of gradual desicca- 
tion. Foothills and slopes with a south exposure are mostly barren of 
trees, while such remnants of forest as still remain are confined to the 
moister north slopes. The treeless areas which have good soil arc 
possessed by a dense growth of lantana and oi: where poor soil exists 
even this cover is reduced to almost nothing; and both types are prac- 
tically worthless for grazing. Steep slopes and ridge points are often 
eroded to red liardpan which supports no plant life whatever. Gulch bot- 
toms are still filled with kukui groves, but the forest floor beneath them, 
instead of being overgrown knee-deep in its proper cover of luxuriant 
ferns and smaller plants, is carpeted with dry leaves and litter. The 
only service of such groves is to offer shade to cattle. 
The result of this continued decrease of forage plants has been to 
force the cattle always higher and further back into the mountains until 
at the present time there is no place, excepting absolute cliffs, where the 
cattle have not penetrated. The best grazing today is in little grassy 
pockets or ''hanging valleys" at the bases of the last and highest palis. 
Such places remain green throughout the year because they are the spots 
which once were the sources of springs and streams, and still receive 
some water in the form of drainage from the cliffs above them. The 
present lack of summer water from these old stream-heads is the strongest 
evidence of the gradual drying of the entire Honouliuli slope through 
loss of forest cover. 
The opinion may be advanced that, because of the development of 
the adjacent lowland pineapple culture, it is not particularly important 
to have a water supply forest in this region. Only one rejDly need be 
made to this argument: it is never economic to destroy a forest when 
the land under that forest can not be put to a higher use. Clean 
fresh water is always needed, and the more dependable and abundant 
the supply the more stable will be the economic and natural conditions 
