AcaciakoainHawai‘i:FacingtheFutureProceedingsofthe2016Symposium,Hilo,HI:www.TropHTIRC.org,www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry

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COMMERCIALFORESTRY

TRENDSINSECURINGANDMILLINGKOA

JayWarner (AwapuhiFarmsandMill)

PaperTitle:Koaharvestsandmarkets:pastandfuture

Myownpersonalexperiencewithworkingwithandharvestingkoagobackto1982,whenIfirst

usedkoaforfurnitureandcabinetmaking.Evenbackintheearly1980'skoalumberthatwasready

toworkwasdifficultforlocalwoodworkerstoobtain.Manyofustookituponourselvestoharvest

ourownkoaalongwithmanyotherlocallygrowntrees.Thisishowthingshaveunfoldedforthe

last35years.

Figure1:Largelogsfromdeadtreesarebroughttothemill.Theselogsmayresistrotformanyyears.

AcaciakoainHawai‘i:FacingtheFutureProceedingsofthe2016Symposium,Hilo,HI:www.TropHTIRC.org,www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry

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Koatimberhasforthemostpartbeenharvestedonprivatelandforthelastfewdecadeswithafew

smallsalesonstatelandundercontroloftheDepartmentofHawaiianHomelands.Thelarge

majorityofalltreesharvestedhavecomefromprivateranchesatupperelevations,from4,000'to

ashighas6,500'.Salvageloggingwouldbethebestwaytodescribehowanyharvestingisdone.

Almostwithoutexceptionallthekoaisharvestedfromoldgrowthforeststhathadbeenconverted

topastureslowlybutsurelyoverthelast150yearsbysimplylettingthecattlegrazeandroamat

will.Mostoftheseforestsaremissingcompletegenerationsofyoung,healthytrees.Thegrazing

cattlehaveeliminatedanyhopeofseedlingsmakinganyheadway.

Figure2:Lumberofdifferentdimensionsissoldmainlytofurnituremanufacturers.Onlyheartwood

issoldcurrently;thereislittlemarketforsapwood.

ThetreesIhaveharvestedandbroughttothemillhavebeenfromdead,down,anddyingtrees.

Occasionallyhealthytreesareharvestedifthelandownerseesfit.Almostallthetreeshavebeenold

growth,whichtomemeanstheyareofanageof75yearstoperhapsasoldas400years.Ihave

harvestedandsawnyoungerkoatreesintherangeof25-45yearsold,andIhavehelpedwith

AcaciakoainHawai‘i:FacingtheFutureProceedingsofthe2016Symposium,Hilo,HI:www.TropHTIRC.org,www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry

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scientificstudiestotrytogetabetterideaofwhattheseyoungtreesmightprovideto

woodworkersofthefuture.

Havingharvested,sawn,edged,trimmed,andgradedhundredsofthousandsofboardfeetofkoaI

havecometoaverystraightforwardconclusion:lumberfromoldgrowthtreesisfarsuperiorto

thatfromyoungertrees.Thisisnotsomeearth-shakingnewstoanywoodworkerhereinthe

HawaiianIslands,andthatdoesnotmeanthatthereisnotvaluetobehadinthoseyoungtrees.

Thirty-fiveyearsagonooneeverthoughtofmakinguseofthesmallerbranchesorstumpsofthe

harvestedtreesaswedonow.Thirty-fiveyearsagotruckloadsupontruckloadsofshortlengthsof

koalumberwerebulldozedintoslashpilesbecausetheyweretooshorttomarket.Suchwastedoes

nothappennowaswehaveaskedourcustomerstobemorerealisticaboutwhattheyreallyneed

andcanmakeuseof.Ifawoodworkerspecializesinmakingrockingchairstheycanmakeuseof

shortlengthsoflumber:thereareveryfew16-foot-longrockersoutthere.

Figure3:Smallpiecesofhighqualitykoawoodgotomanufacturersofpensetsandothersmallcrafts.

AcaciakoainHawai‘i:FacingtheFutureProceedingsofthe2016Symposium,Hilo,HI:www.TropHTIRC.org,www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry

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Wearerunningoutofoldgrowthkoatoharvestatthistime.Idonotthinkkoalumberfrom25to

45-year-oldtreeswillevertaketheplaceofoldgrowthlumber,buttherewillbeaplaceforthat

material.Manylandownersarereplantingkoaonsomeofthebestpartsoftheirland.Whileitis

encouragingtoseethishappening,wenowwillallhavetoseehowthesestandsoftreesare

managedandcaredfor.ThereareseveralwaystogoaboutthisandIdonotthinkthatanyone

personorgrouphasaperfectplan.Ibelievethattheopensharingofinformationwillbekeyto

havingsuccessforallfuturekoaforests.

Figure4:A“youngkoa”logfroma25-year-oldtreestillhasalotofsapwood.

Koashouldnotbethoughtofasa"brand"ora"market",andshouldnotbethoughtofastheonly

trulyvaluablewoodinHawai‘i.Koaisawonderfulwoodandkoaforestsareamazingplaces.

Woodworkersandendusersoftheirworkshouldusekoawiselyinthefuture,andincorporate

otherlocaltimbersintheirwork.Bymakinguseofthemanyotherintroducedandnativetrees

here,wewillbeablestretchourkoasupplyandallowtheforeststhetimetorecover.Ibelievethe

futureisbrightforkoa.Withsomanypeopleinterestedandinvolvedwithreforestationtodaythe

next100yearslooktobeverygoodindeed.