I don’t remember noticing trees much when I was a child. I lived on a farm in Eastern Oklahoma where for as far as I could see was flat land – in cultivation – soybeans, corn, cotton. Land was for production. It wasn’t until my late 20s when I moved to Hawaii that I began to hike into the forests and valleys. The sight and smell of the dense vegetation, the leaf litter on the forest floor, the sound of birds were a new experience that would change the way I viewed the world. In this quiet world, I found land that is for beauty, for plants and animals and I was a guest.
In the late 70s, we moved to a small acreage on the Big Island. The large Ohia trees that had once been abundant in this area were struggling to survive. Years of cattle ranching had taken a toll. Determined to turn back time we planted Koa to replace the former pasture with a forest. A few years later we moved to another acreage nearby. Local historians tell me that once long ago before homesteading – the land was native forest. As families moved in, the forest was cleared to cultivate coffee, and later cleared again for pasture for cattle. When we arrived we found 25 years of neglect and the land that was once a native forest was now abandoned and overtaken by scrub guava and guinea grass. This would prove to be a much bigger task and we had much to learn. What would have been the forest canopy…and what trees, shrubs and vines would have been the understory? Every question led me to an answer, a resource, another person sharing the passion.
Kia\’i and Granny
It has been over 20 years – planting one tree at a time. Many have been planted for special events – a birth, a marriage, a passing. The children remember with pride their investment of time as they see the forest grow.
We know we are blessed to be here and share this time together. On a recent “forest work day” an ‘io (native Hawaiian Hawk) circled above us. This endangered bird is known as the “guardian of the forest”. We all felt the presence – the blessing for a job well done.
We are stewards – respecting the past and all that has been given, nurturing it for the future yet to come.
