12/27/22 – FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE CONNECTION PART OF HAWAIIAN HISTORY

JOSH GREEN, M.D. GOVERNOR SUZANNE D. CASE CHAIRPERSON For Immediate Release:  December 27, 2022 FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE CONNECTION PART OF HAWAIIAN HISTORY Over 125 Years of Cooperative Efforts Across the Islands To view video please click on photo or view at this link: https://vimeo.com/783764597 (HONOLULU) – Forestry and agricultural interests have been intertwined in the Hawaiian Islands since well before statehood. In 1903, when Hawai‘i was a territory, the Board of Agriculture and Forestry was established. Creation of forest reserves soon followed, along with directed efforts to manage invasive plants and animals, implement watershed protections, and initiate reforestation of native tree and plant species. Although two separate state departments exist today, the DLNR and the Department of Agriculture (HDOA) maintain similar land stewardship principles that complement one another. “We were one of the first forestry organizations in the country…created by agricultural interests,” said David Smith, Administrator for DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW). “Agriculture and forestry are closely tied in our nation’s history and in our state’s history, and that continues to this day.” A critical resource for agricultural use, which forests help to provide, is water. Early farmers and ranchers in Hawai’i understood water’s value and recognized the
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