There are not enough trees on the island to sustain a veneer mill

The basic fight of the Protect O'okala group involves protecting our community from the establishment of a heavy industrial business in the middle of our residential community. But when members of the steering committee conducted extensive research into Tradewinds business plans, we uncovered a lot of interesting stuff. We discovered that Tradewinds does not have the contract to log the trees in Hamakua, and that they will not be securing it. But even more interesting, we discovered that forestry experts throughout the state, those who have done the seminal research into the island's tree inventory, have serious doubts about the existence of the economy of scale (i.e. sufficient quality and quantity of trees) needed to sustain a veneer mill at all.

Please find attached the seminal market study on the island's tree inventory, it's a MUST READ for anyone interested in this aspect of the issue. This study was conducted in the late 1990s when the possibility of developing a diversified forestry industry was in the infant stages. At that time, there were choices that the various land owners-- including the state, the county, Parker Ranch, and Kamehameha Schools-- had to make: plant quick rotation chip quality trees or plant long-term rotation value-added trees or some combination of the two. As the market study shows, all majors land owners needed to be onboard with the long-term value added concept in order for the island produce the economy of scale needed to support a value-added industry such as veneer.

It is very unfortunate that the county rejected the proposal of a progressive plan to develop a value-added forestry industry and that Kamehameha Schools opted to plant a quick rotation crop of chip quality trees. But that's what happened, and wishing there were enough trees on the island right now to sustain a veneer mill will not make it so. We urge you to call the forestry experts at the State Department of Forestry and Wildlife and at the Hawai‘i Agriculture Research Center and discuss this issue with them yourself. Read the attached documents for yourself.

Protect O'okala Ad Hoc Steering Committee