HILO >> Honolulu wood dealer Kyle Dong has renewed an application with the state to log koa trees on 13,129 acres he owns just north of Hilo. Wood dealer renews
koa logging request
By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comDong's company, Koa Timber Inc., this week released a draft environmental impact statement on the project for public comment. The state Board of Land and Natural Resources granted Koa Timber a 180-day time extension on Friday to process its request for a conservation district use permit.
Most of the acreage is designated conservation, although a small part is designated agriculture, where no permit is needed, and Koa Timber is already logging there.
Dong first made the koa project public in 2001, describing the project as environmentally friendly because it would reduce plants and animals that threaten the native forest, such as strawberry guava and pigs, and encourage regrowth of koa.
In 2001, the company withdrew a brief environmental study called an assessment in the face of public comments that displayed more uncertainty than outright opposition. Several elements have been changed in the new, more thorough environmental impact statement.
For example, the project size has decreased to about 13,000 acres from about 16,000. Only 10,000 acres would be logged.
Each acre is expected to have from one to 7.5 trees suitable for harvesting in a 10-year period, and cut logs would be removed from the forest by helicopter during a three-month harvest period each year. No roads would be built.
The 2001 assessment said "highest priority" would be given to logging dead or dying koa trees. The current impact statement says "mature and dead and dying" trees will be logged. Mature trees are defined as those with a diameter of 18 inches or more at chest height.
Koa Timber's representative told the land board in 2001 that the project would be monitored four times a year by the International Forest Stewardship Council. That plan has been dropped, Dong said.
"Because this is a local project, we decided to incorporate the community instead of the International Forest Stewardship Council," he said in a written response to Star-Bulletin questions.
Koa Timber now plans an advisory committee composed of experts in forestry, Hawaiian rain forest ecology, and Hawaiian cultural practices, the impact statement says.
Dong listed Hawaiian sovereignty leader Mililani Trask and former OHA trustee Moanikeala Akaka among people who will "assist us in establishing the standards." He didn't clarify whether they will be members of the advisory committee.
In 2001, Koa Timber's representative told the land board the company would post a $1 million bond to ensure its plan was properly carried out. Dong didn't respond to a question on whether that is still intended.
At a price of $7.80 per board foot of koa, the project is expected to generate $7.8 million per year in direct sales, create 28 jobs with the company, and yield $263,221 per year in taxes. Additional indirect sales and jobs would be generated.
In 2001, two lenders attempted unsuccessfully to foreclose on the company for alleged non-repayment of loans.
Dong said Friday that a dispute continues with one lender, but the lender has agreed not to become involved with the permit process.
State Board of Land and Natural Resources
County of Hawaii
