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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0258.005 1996-1998 Hugh R. Montgomery, Ph.D. rn,-..„ :~--r. P.O. Box 537 . Honoka'a, Hawaaz i %7~3 ~1riY 5 Pfl 2 April 30, 1997 CCUIv, COUNTY GF HAUVAII Dominic Yagong, Councilmember County of Hawaii 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96727 Dear Mr. Yagong: Thank you for your interest in the opinions of your constituents in the matter of leasing lands for the purpose of growing frees for pulp. I am opposed to this proposal and would like to tell you why. For most of the 25 years I have resided in Hamakua sugar was the economic mainstay of the region. There was much that was undesirable about the sugar industry. A brief list would include the loss of topsoil, proliferation of environmental poisons applied from the air and from the ground, depletion of the fertility of the soil that remained, smoke from burning of fields, noise of nearby harvests, damage to roads, dangers of trucks mingling with other traffic, mud tracked from fields onto public roads to create hazards, etc., etc. Sugar had an integral history in Hawai i, however, and had grown incrementally, imbedding itself in the history of the Islands. Each development in the industry grew on prior practices. Changes from fluming cane to the mill to hauling by oxen, then by steam tractors, by locomotives and at last by trucks represented a significant, but not a quantum change in procedure. Similarly, the acreage devoted to cane production grew over many years, so those once far removed from it saw it grow gradually nearer to them. People who moved to Hamakua in the past 75 years could not fail to be impacted by the sugar industry, but unless they chose to move elsewhere, everyone had to accommodate to it. The proposed imposition of a pulp industry on the lands of Hamakua has some similarity to sugar, in that most of what was objectionable about the sugar industry is present in the pulp industry. An enormous difference between the past and the present activity and proposals is that this overwhelming presence is to be imposed on the populace and the landscape at a level of intensity and magnitude without precedent. There are many reasons (see below) to believe that it is mistaken to embrace pulp as the primary industry in Hamakua ,and Gym. DIa ___~~i.~~-- R51e No. ~G.s _ 1Le f . 'tot _ nnv a leer; while no one is immune to making mistakes, the scope of this one will be historical. The changes associated with this industry at the level suggested by current propositions will affect this Island, and especially, the people of Hamakua, for at least the next century, and there are numerous indicators that these changes will not be benign. • Problems with monocultural agricultural practices are widely known. Environmental imbalances of complex and sometimes unpredictable dimensions are often triggered by extensive monoculture. Further depletion in soil fertility lead to the need for more extensive fertilizing; insect pests can ravage such crops and trigger ever more prolific use of poisons. • The loss of viewplanes and diminished diversity of scenery will make Hamakua ever less attractive to tourists. The idea of a Heritage Corridor will recede into the memories of the idealists who dreamed of it. The industrialization of the lands of Hamakua will impoverish the natural beauty of this marvelous part of the Island and repel those who would otherwise come here for rest and education in natural and cultural history. • Dependence on a single economic activity is a mistake, as makers of buggy whips could have told you in the aftermath of Henry Ford, as typewriter repairers can tell you in this age of computers, and as loggers in the Pacific northwest will unequivocally tell you today. • The fact that among the players in this scene are some of the wealthiest institutions in the world does not assure the wisdom of their choices. Every investment is a gamble, and extremely wealthy gamblers have simply taken pains to assure that, most of the time, when their gambles fail, someone else suffers the loss. • The scope of the proposed pulp industry and its sudden imposition on Hamakua reminds one of the colonial eras in human history, where exploitation for short-term gain, without regard for the needs or preferences of the residents of an area, yielded great riches for a few and misery for many. • The manner in which this project is being advanced lends itself to great suspicion that machine politics is at work, with unpublicized meetings, bland reassurances and vague commitments. The scope of the possibilities being considered have been fragmented so that the commitment to pulp appears to a casual observer much smaller than it does with closer scrutiny. It seems naYve to suggest that at least one pulp mill is not a part of the long-range intent, however much that may be denied as "not in the plans at this time." It is little wonder that many of the residents of Hamakua are reacting emotionally to the prospect of the pulp industry dominating the economy, the land, the roads and the air. Undoubtedly, the pressures of the financial giants involved must be great. There is no shortage of politicians with a taste for the perquisites associated with compliance to the preferences of the monetarily powerful. Even for the less venal, the temptation to seize upon a single solution to all the options available for land use and enhancement of the tax base would lead some politicians to find the pulp industry's proposals attractive. What is needed, though, is something Hawaii and Hamakua have historically had not nearly enough of: citizenry and representatives with the fortitude and vision to advocate for lower impact, less monolithic, more socially and environmentally wholesome businesses. Many such options exist. The citizens of Hamakua are raising their voices. ff they are sometimes strident, it is in part because they are not being joined by their elected, appointed, and hired guardians in government. Much power lies with you and your colleagues. Please, use it wisely and compassionately on behalf of the long-term well-being of the people whom you represent: reject, as much as is within your purview, the pulping of Hamakua. I very much appreciate your unusual efforts to get information from your constituents and if you would like to discuss these matters further I would be pleased to do so. With aloha, Hugh R. Montgomery, Ph.D. copies: Council members Mr. Arakaki, Mr. Chung, Ms. Leithead-Todd, Mr. Ray, Mr. Santangelo, Mr. Smith, Mr. Tyler, Mr. Reynolds.