HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0258.023 1996-1998
..rr
Craig Ele~ritch
Source Ecosystems
n.o. sox-~~a. Hol«aioa. x: 37 JJL 23 ('(1 `t 1 ~
Tel: 8C8,,3~-I-~42%. Fax: 505';3~~ 1-~1='~
Email: aAroforester 2iQc.or~
G~~~.;,
COUi~I i' ~i?~Vi'AI!
iuh~ 109
Lon'aine Acdal
~ o Councilman D. 1'agong
2~ Aupum St.
Hilo. HI 96.2.
Fax: 9693291
Dear Lon'aine.
Enclosed is my ~~ie«point on use of public lands for pulpwood production m
Hamalma. Feel free to distribute it.
\-Ve ha~'e been u'ained over 400 practtnonrrs in agroforesuz~ tecluudues m
Hawan since 1991. Perhaps that is «~h~' Liz :Aal<;J,xcashi thought of us. If you have
an interest m our agroforesuy «°orlcshops, pleas- le~_ me kno«•.
~,2th h.~~i regards.
~~iaisr F L,~ztch
Encl: ~'ie~~•point
Pacific Island Reforestation-Sustaino-xble ~ ~ Kcal Resource Management
Multiput'pose and :Native Plact~~ --.A~roforestty
Member of the ; rn:~a. u1! ~ dcademp
oomo.lia .'~S$•
F11e l~o._ 2ES
}t~f. To: _
2 41997
R~
Craig Elevitch
Source Ecosvstenu
P.O. Box-?28, Holualoa~ HI c„~ _ r.z;~
Tel: 868.:324-x-12 ~ ~ ..°aY: 8~~0: {--:1: c
Err.ail, a,groforecer aiQcor~
V1ay 13. 1991
V'ieyl~onztt
Hardss°oods Benefit our Conunumt~~~ lore dean Pulpwood
Recent~~ certain counties and the State of Has~~a G; has e been «°ooing outside
companies to establish a pulpwood indusus• on fo;;nzr sugarcane and pubhc lands.
\4am° knoss°ledgeable members of the conunnnm~ such as fi-rends of Hamakua has'e
pubhch° expressed tom°mang arguments agam~.r. 1~_astng large Watts of land for
pulpwood production. Pulpss~ood plantations arr la.rve-scale monocultures «°hich
prosdde relatiyeh~ fen' jobs to the communih•. Tl~~zr prospect of another such
indusu~~ is distasteful to mam~ rn agriculture and torzsu~~ ss$o have become
proponents of u~op dis°ersity and ds°namic comn,~u~~i.~s~-based lob creation.
While dtese are vei1~ legitimate constdeianon=~ r; ~nr. s~oiced about pulps-ood
plantations in Hass~ait. there is another aspect ~~,Y~~ich has been largzh~ neglected. As
ss2th sugar production. the pulps°ood mdusi,r~ nioJuces only a rass~ material which
ss°ould be sent outside of Hawaii for further pror~~~ ~~ng. }~'e n°ould be exploiting a
large portion of ourlimited agricultural land base ~,r production of a ray material
sold at its lo«~est value. Seen m that perspzcus~~~ ~.~~.re selling oursels~es shoat on
what pubhc lands can return economtcalls~ and sc~nng oursels~es up Fora Thtrd-
\Vorld economy. n°hich is essentially an zconornc 1.,ased on selling to«~ materials to
First world economies. The alternattye ~s to prod>>c~~ materials svludt can be further
processed in s aluz-added industries here m t,
Let s look at Kona coffee for an example of ho~~~ °~~luz-added «°orks. In the world
conunodity market the farmer's pace for gene, c:~fze is about l Oc,lb. Kona
fai7ners do not has~e to sell in the world commotti~~ market. but can sell their
coffee chem~ to a Hass•aii Island processor at prenuunt prices up to SL 10;1b. A
Kona fanner ss~ho instead processes his;her o<«z c--size during die off-season. roasts
and packages it. can dzen sell it to retailers ac ab~,~ir S~,7b. Finally. bs~ setting up a
outlet coffee connoisseurs then pay the farii~~ cl ~;~_cts~ ups~~ards of S20-1b. The
fat-mer inu'eases his.-her gross income 10-li amz~ ln~ processing and selling rather
than lust selling the coffee berries. ~'ou maa he ~ n .-rested to latow that at least 100
Kona farmzrs are processing dteir oyzl coffez aa;' ~~-Ihng it as a high-value product.
Applying dtis model to snood products. the ~i~~~'.p~~- ^;~..1 plantations as ensssioned
nosy are lust lil<e produang coffee chem~ for ~~P~.- ~ .mmodity market for 10c,1b. Ao
use of the Hatt~aiian-gron7t brand name trill e~,~er',~~ made. so our«'ood chips «•ill
never command a higher tt~orld price than similar d~.iaht<~ t~-ood chtps (or pulp 1
from ans~ other counu~~. The trees slated for plai,tui~~ for pulpt~~ood are not suitable
for other. higher-end uses such as construction t-~~ond. trim, veneer. eu. The choice
of spedes alone offers no opportunities for a t~al~~~ .,added Ha«~aiian «•ood product
mdustil~ modeled after the Kona coffee mdustr. .and QZerefore returns to our
comtnunity onls~ a fraction of tchat is possible.
There are good economic reasonssvhv international pulp«~ood industries are eager
to grott~ pees m Hatt°aii. The asks for shore-rotation umbers are relaovels• low_
return is realized ttzthin 6-i years, and there is a Guaranteed market for «°ood fiber.
Im~estors in the paper pulp indusul~ are. reasonably- looldng after their ot«t
interests. not necessanle those of the people of 1.,~,-ati. If foresu~~ is an
economically s~iable and ecologically sustainable s:~~ateg~° for Ha«°anan lands. and I
belies•e it most ceiYainly is. then st~hat tt e should h.- looldng for are strategies to
build our timber base while also building our aloe-added mdustrzes.
Lander a prolect recentle approyedbv the State Fr~rest Stewardship Program. 1600
ao'es of former sugarcane land on Kauai trill be te(~rested be the Kauai-based
Hatt~aiian tilahogam~ Cotporatron. node anat~ <~; thou-. medrwn and long-
rotation timbers will be grott~t in mLtied stands : nd f,rocessed for value-added
products for use m Hats au as t~~ell as for e~poi t. fL,^.urns from the prolect tall
begin after S tears from planting. ts~th the ;att• nr~ renal supporting a value-added
industr~~tt•oitlt 10-?0 times that of the same too:~, sold as sat-rlogs. Pnmaia°
products Include wood for extenor use. panelm^ Il,~onng and mtenor uzm. A
diversity of hardwood speaes hall be planted ou 1 "o of the area for' hat~est m 30-
d0 tears as high-value timber and a'aftyood. ?'~e value-added. production still not
only ueate more jobs. but higher retw'ns for ou: e~,onomy. collections in exdse and
income tat for the state. It seems sUange that tier counties and state t~~ould push
for a~tng up public land m long term leases <<aa~h t iiZUalh° guarantee the lot~~est
possible return in taxres°enues as compared ~ttr!,. ~nt,ber connected to value-added
mdusuies.
The counties has'e already taken steps to suppo~ t loresa~° by reduang ptnpera' tas
rates for tree plantations. Before committuz~ s~~ ~~~.~.i thousand awes of public land
for long-teen leases for pulptyood production. rlr -rate and counties should
actively encourage other saable foresul~ soarer;°t~, ~,~luch ma:umiae returns to our
community through locally-based. enyironmen~~.ih (i~endlyyalue-added industries.
Craig Eles7tch is an agroforesuro specialist tvho n~=a~es management and
development plans for sustainable faun and fo~re~~~ ~ protects throughout Hat~~ai't.
He can be reached at P.O. Box 4'?8. Holualoa- i-It `~u ~ or by email at
agroforester~: igcoig.