The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-08-10
P|IHONUA LAND
NOT AVAILABLE
Application for License to
Lumber KOa Thereon
Is Refused.

wv
At the last meeting of the Board o
Commissioners of Agriculture and For
estry, held on July 20. 1907, action was
taken on an application to lumber the
koa on the government land of Piiho-
nua. Hno, Hawaii, now under lease to
the Hon. John T. Baker of Hilo.
Approving the recommendations of
the Superintendent of Forestry and the
Committee on Forestry, the Board
submitted to the Governor the recon-
mendation that no numbering be per-
mitted on this land. Governor Carter
sustained this action by refusing to
grant the desired license.
The report of the Superintendent of
Forestry, now made public, shows the
reasons for the action taken and more
clearly than before defines the posi-
ton of the Board of Agriculture and
Forestry in regard to numbering the
government forests.
Honolulu, Hawaii, July IS, 1907.
Committee on Forestry, Board of Agri-
culture and Forestry, Honolulu.
Gentlemen: l have the honor TO sub
nit the following report on the ques-
tion of permitting numbering on the
land OF Piihonua, district of Hilo, is
land of Hawaii.
This report is made in reply to a re-
quest received from the Commissioner
based; ID on an examination of the
land made at the end of June, 1907,
during which I saw as much of PHI
honua as can be seen without the cut
ting OF a considerable number of trails |
through heavy underground and across
swamps; % on all the other evidence |
in regard to the character Of the land /
that l could obtain, and I believe 1 |
have practically all that is available. |
I have given the matter most careful
S consideration from every point of view
and 1 cOnscientiously believe that J.
am acting for the best interests of the
Territory in making the recommended
tions that follow.
DESCRIPTION.
Piihonua is a government land, I'M
der a crown lease to the Hon. John T.
6dhEE OF E1lAO. L ne lEdSG No COLI S8- !
pires on March q, 1921. The upper
part of the tract is sublet to Mr.. w. (
H Shipman and constitutes the Pun
90 Ranch. The lower line of Mr.. Ship
mans lease extends almost due north !
across the tract from the point on the
1875 lava flow known as Reeds Island, /
at an elevation of approximately 5000 z
feet. The lower portion of the tract is
covered by the fields of the Hawaii
Mill COmpany's sugar plantation. The l
cane lands reach up to an elevation of
about 1000 feet. t
The section between the cane fields {
and a forest fence constructed by Mr.. I
at some distance above the
line of his lease, constitutes a part Of
the Hilo Forest Reserve, established
in July, 1905.
Between the limits named the land
is heavily wooded. On the lower and
middle sections the forest consists OF
a mixed stand of Ohia Lehua and Koa
trees. mainly of large size. At an ele-
walton of approximately $500 feet is a
belt of pure Ohia forest. Above this
and extending to and above the Ship /
man fence the forest is again compos-
ed of Koa and Ohia. in mixture.
the forest is a heavy I'M
uSEETON III NOAi5iSNAAAS VI u u.s. NV |
shrubs and small trees, and high grow
ing ferns and brakes. In places are
tangles of ie-ie vine and uluhi. The s
soil where exposed is a reddish clay,
a foot to eighteen inches or more in q
depth.
The belt of pure Ohia is evidently
the point of greater precipitation from d
the trade wind clouds; though
the forest, from the planta- NJ
ton clearing to the Shipman line, the =
rainfall is heavy. All over the area y
are springs, pools and swamps that .
iced the numerous small tributaries to :
The Wailuku River and its several
branches. Practically the whole drain :
age basin of this stream is on Piiho-
lua. for the water that comes from IL
higher up than the section watered by II
he trade wind clouds is limited to the
low resulting from Kona and other m
oeal storms. L
Very little is known accurately of the fC
actual sources of the water in the D
streams. or from which part of the m
orest they are most largely fed. But m
he indications are that from one-third CT
% one-half of the water comes from q
he area of pure Ohia forest, above de- a.
icribed, while the remainder is the re- r.
suit of springs and swamps lower re
Town. These springs are dependent n
or their sustained and equalized flow si
N the protection afforded by the for =,
st cover. -
At present the water from the Wal =,
uku is used for irrigation and for -
urning the power wheels of the Hilo Vi
Electric Light Company. For these d
purposes it is diverted at points near W
" below the 1000 feet level. &c
RECOMNENDATIO :;
Having given the problem thorough hi
md careful study, both on the ground II
md in its various relations, 1 cannot
eport favorably on the proposition to is
NM her this tract NV principal rea- | h,