State officials favor Big Island logging
By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — State land officials are recommending approval of a Mainland partnership's renewed proposal to log 8,875 acres of state-owned trees on the slopes of Moana Loa.
As part of the process, Tradewinds Forestry Products LLC., of Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash., would establish a mill on the Big Island to process the logs into hardwood veneer, lumber and wood chips, spending an estimated $25 million on the endeavor.
A memo to the Board of Land and Natural Resources from Michael Buck, administrator of the Department of Land and Natural Resources' division of forestry and wildlife, urges approval of a 10-year harvesting permit allowing Tradewinds to log in the Waiakea Timber Management Area.
The land board resumes a hearing on the proposed license tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at the Hilo Hongwanji Mission on Kilauea Avenue. Only a handful of the dozens of people who turned out had time to testify at the first hearing in April.
Opponents of awarding the timber license have voiced concerns about the financial viability of the joint venture.
The Tradewinds partnership is made up of Timber Exchange of Portland and Quality Veneer and Lumber of Seattle. The partnership was formed to respond to the state's request for proposals issued in December 1998, after the Waiakea management plan was adopted.
In 1999, the state awarded a contract to Tradewinds to log in the area, and to build a veneer and plywood plant. That plan stalled, however, when one of Tradewinds' partners withdrew financial support.
Environmentalists have raised concerns about potential increased flooding in the area five miles southeast of Hilo, which receives around 200 inches annually at the lower elevations and 150 inches further inland.
Objections over possible ill effects on the native Hawaiian bats and birds have also been raised, though state officials say native birds seldom nest in the introduced trees.
The state has planted 12,000 acres of trees in the management area, established in 1959, with an eye toward establishing a forest products industry on the Big Island.
In his memo to the board, Buck outlines safeguards for protecting remaining native species in the management area. He also points to a cancellation clause in the contract, if Tradewinds fails to have a mill ready for manufacturing by the end of 2003.
About 300 jobs would be created by the new industry, which also would provide electrical power by burning leftover wood products.
The Tradewinds partnership entered into a 15-year harvesting agreement earlier this year with Pru Timber, a subsidiary of Prudential Insurance, for harvesting eucalyptus trees on former Hamakua Sugar Co. land now owned by Kamehameha Schools.
