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i <br /> 5 <br /> Hardwoods and Bamboo. Products: Veneer, woodcrafts, furniture, lumber, foodstuff. <br /> There are no data available for potential economic impact analysis for hardwoods grown in <br /> Hawaii. However, It is now universally recognized that hardwoods have virtually disappeared <br /> from the Tropics. Because of this, wholesale rough lumber prices of mahogany and koa for <br /> example, have doubled in the past 20 years. In 1970 wholesale price of mahogany in USA was <br /> $2.00/bdit, koa was $7.00/bdit. Now mahogany costs $4.00/bdfl. and koa, $15,00/bdit. The <br /> demand for hardwoods keeps Increasing due to the universal awareness of people to rely more <br /> end more on renewable resources. Hardwoods are excellent for (1) construction materials for <br /> sturdy structures, (2) furniture, (3) interior panelings of residential and office and office <br /> buildings and (4) a source of energy (highest btu/unit weight in the plant kingdom). It has <br /> been established that for every 1,OOOK bdit. of hardwoods used for interior paneling, wood- <br /> craft and furniture 1,000 jobs will be created. <br /> In many SE Asian countries bamboo is used as reinforcing bars of concrete posts in lieu of steel <br /> rods. Veneer bamboo is now commonly used in wall panelings, floor tiles, woodcraft and furni- <br /> ture In Asian counties. It is now used on surfboards in Hawaii. <br /> Bamboo s{ioot preserves constitute a multimillion dollar food export Industry of Thailand and <br /> other Asian countries. <br /> Because of the high economic potentials of hardwoods and bamboo, it is sate to assume that they <br /> have very much higher economic returns and create more employment opportunities than <br /> mono-crop Eucalyptus. <br /> Land Utilization and Financing <br /> Immediate Land Use. There are three groups of ranchers who are all members of the Coop and <br /> who are ready to use most, II not all, of the 10,000+ acres, One group Is headed by Mr. Antone <br /> Deluz, another by Mr. Dan Winters and a third by Mr. Jack Ramos. They have the resosurces to <br /> get started on ranching right away. A fourth group, headed by Mr. Bob Shiojl, are also members <br /> of the Coop and the Hamakua Chapter of the Farm Bureau. This group is ready to develop 1,000 <br /> or so acres to macadamia nut, coffee and tropical irults. Another group, Friends of Hamakua <br /> under the co-leadership of Mr. Tim Mann and Mr. Seppe Weismuller, are ready to develop 200 <br /> acres of agroforestry (integrated systems of high value hardwoods, tree and annual crops). <br /> From Year 1-15, the diversified ag farmers, working closely with the ranchers, will gradually <br /> develop diversified ag into afull-blown agro-industrial enterprise. It is expected that the ran- <br /> chers will also be a part of the diversified ag group in the future, enabling them to derive maxi- <br /> mum returns from their fencing capital investment. <br /> A Task Force will be created by the Coop to hammer out details of the project development plan. <br /> Financing, Financing of this 10,000+ acres will consist of personal resources as well as grants <br /> and loans from the state and federal governments. These grants and loans will be applied for by <br /> the Coop as well as by individual farmers, whichever is readily feasible. <br /> Marketing. Marketing of farm products will be done by individual farmers at farm gate outlets <br /> and through existing marketing network of some commodities (e.g. beef, macnut, coffee, papaya <br /> <br /> taro, ginger, cut flowers and foliage plant). The Coop will establish marketing systems for the <br /> <br />