Recently the counties and the state have been wooing outside companies to establish a pulpwood industry on former sugar cane and public lands. Pulp is a poor choice for isles
Pulpwood plantations are large-scale monocultures which provide few jobs to the community. The prospect of another such industry is distasteful to many in agriculture and forestry who have become proponents of crop diversity and dynamic community-based job creation.
While these are legitimate considerations being voiced about pulpwood plantations in Hawaii, there is another aspect which has been largely neglected.
As with sugar production, the pulpwood industry produces only a raw material which would be sent outside of Hawaii for further processing. We would be exploiting a large portion of our limited agricultural land base for production of a raw material sold at its lowest value.
Seen in that perspective, we're selling ourselves short on what public lands can return economically, and setting ourselves up for a Third World economy, which is essentially an economy based on selling raw materials to First World economies. The alternative is to produce materials which can be further processed in value-added industries here in Hawaii.
Let's look at Kona coffee for an example of how value-added works. In the world commodity market, the farmer's price for generic coffee is about 10 cents per pound. Farmers in Kona also can sell their coffee cherry to a Hawaii Island processor at premium prices up to $1.10 per pound.
But a Kona farmer who instead processes his or her own coffee during the off-season, roasts and packages it, can then sell it to retailers at about $8 per pound. Finally, by setting up an outlet, coffee connoisseurs pay the farmer directly about $20 per pound.
The farmer increases gross income 10-15 times by processing and selling rather than just selling the coffee berries.
The pulpwood plantations as envisioned now are just like producing coffee cherry for the commodity market for 10 cents per pound. The trees slated for planting for pulpwood are not suitable for other, higher-end uses such as construction wood, trim, veneer, etc. The choice of species alone offers no opportunities for a value-added Hawaiian wood product industry modeled after the Kona coffee industry, and so returns to our community only a fraction of what is possible.
If forestry is an economically viable and ecologically sustainable crop for Hawaii, and I believe it is, then what we should be considering is building our timber base while also building our value-added industries.
Under a project approved by the State Forest Stewardship Program, 1,600 acres of former sugar-cane land on Kauai will be reforested by a private Hawaii-based company. A wide array of short-, medium- and long-rotation timbers will be grown in mixed stands and processed for value-added products for use in Hawaii as well as for export.
Returns from the project will begin after eight years from planting, with the raw material supporting a value-added industry worth 10-20 times that of the same wood sold as saw logs. Primary products include wood for exterior use, paneling, flooring and interior trim.
A diversity of hardwood species will be planted on 15 percent of the area for harvest in 30-50 years as high-value timber and craftwood. The value-added production will not only create more jobs, but higher returns for our economy, collections in excise and income tax for the state.
It seems strange that government would push for tying up public land in long-term leases which guarantee the lowest possible return in tax revenues as compared with timber for value-added industries.
Before committing public land for pulpwood production, the state and counties should encourage forestry alternatives which maximize returns to our community through locally based, environmentally friendly value-added industries.
Craig Elevitch, a Big Island resident, is an
agroforestry specialist who creates management and
development plans for sustainable farm and
forestry projects throughout Hawaii.