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INTRODUCTION <br />Many of the ancient trails, which are still protected as public land or with traditional <br />access rights, connect areas of natural beauty that have cultural significance. Even though the <br />19`h and 20th centuries brought rapid physical and cultural changes, some of the trails lead to <br />remote spots that are important for traditional gathering and other cultural practices. The areas <br />they traverse include some stands of fairly intact native vegetation with little modern <br />development, offering a glimpse to the past. <br />Extensive tracts of Puna's landscape were transformed when Western contact brought <br />large scale resource exploitation and agriculture in successive waves. Sandalwood export began <br />in 1790, reaching its peak between 1810 and 1825. After Hawai`i's first forestry law in 1839 <br />restricted the removal of sandalwood trees, cattle ranching and coffee cultivation became the <br />1-2 <br />