Whatever
Happened...
Question: What ever happened to the effort to plant redwood trees in Hawaii? Did any survive? Redwood trees are doing
well on three islandsAnswer: Yes, altogether 130,432 redwood trees were planted in forest reserves on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui and the Big Island, mostly in the 1920s and 1930s.
Although many died, today there are stands on the Big Island, in Kauai's Kokee area and especially on 280 acres near Polipoli Springs in the Kula Forest Reserve on the slopes of Haleakala, Maui.
The Maui acreage, which gets much fog, has climate similar to the natural fog belt of the California and Oregon coast, where redwoods are native.
Hawaii's small redwood stands are believed more valuable for recreation than for timber. Many hiking trails wind among the Hawaii redwoods, which grow more slowly in height but more rapidly in diameter than redwoods in California. Hawaii's redwoods are credited with bringing back a number of native Hawaiian forest birds.
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