Our Hawaii Island Wood Story

Dating back to the days of the Ancient Hawaiians; woods from Hawaii have been revered. King Kamehameha and other native Hawaiians are reported to have traded Koa and Sandalwood for furs, gold coins and many other treasures from around the world. Koa bowls and calabash items were made and given as gifts to the royalty. What many came to realize was that the woods from Hawaii were quite unique in color, stability, composition and configuration.

It is interesting to note that many things that grow in the warm volcanic soils display very unique characteristics. This includes Kona Coffee, apple bananas, macadamia nuts and Acacia Koa. Similarly, most all species of woods grown in Hawaii have more unique characteristics and superior grain quality than similar species of woods grown in other parts of the world. It may be due to the volcanic soil conditions, humidity, altitude, rainfall, year round sunshine, or some combination of all of the above!

What we have discovered is that -like Koa Wood - even the non native woods display much greater character than the exact same species from other parts of the world. Because in many instances the grain and character is so unique we struggled with what to call the non native species. We did not want to re-name existing species, but they really are unique. In the spirit of keeping things simple we have decided it would be easier for the consumers to simply differentiate the woods from Hawaii by putting an “HI” in front of the various existing species. This stands for “Hawaii Island”. To further simplify things, we named our company “Hawaii Island Hardwoods”. In the spirit of Aloha and in trying to help the Hawaii Forrest Industry we do not consider this naming to be proprietary. However, we do believe the woods from Hawaii are different and that, much like Kona Coffee, it should be marketed and described as such. Therefore we are encouraging others to use the same names. What is amazing is it gets even more unique. Besides the fact the woods from Hawaii are different, the woods are different by region within the islands also! Therefore we decided to go one step further. We have added a third component to the description - to list the origin of the wood. The sources of timber are stories unto themselves.

For example we have some HI Robusta from a Boy Scout Camp between the towns of Waimea and Honokaa. The Boy Scouts needed some trees removed for a camp they are improving and we wanted to utilize the material, but we also wanted the “story” and location not to get lost! We have decided to track this wood and market it separately from other timber of the same species. It will be identified as HI Robusta- Be Prepared. Yes, it takes more effort to track, compile, separate and list where all of our species come from. But we think that, like a fine wine, you would want to know the history! If these trees took 60 years to mature, grow, age and create the very distinctive grains that will be enjoyed in your lifetime and beyond, we felt it was well worth the effort to pass this on to each of our customers!

We really have a passion for our woods from Hawaii. We want you to enjoy them as much as we do. We have/are investing in a high quality sawmill at a time most mills are going out of business in a place where the cost of doing business is higher than anyplace in our country. We will have the first “Chain of Custody” certified logging operation in Hawaii. Our certification will come from the principles and criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

We hope that our customers and our neighbors will agree that for only a little bit more you can get species that are unique to Hawaii and that display superior characters to the “average” woods from other parts of the world. If our customers decide to choose HI woods for cabinets, trims, flooring or a fine piece of furniture, they will have the additional benefit of knowing its origin and history. We will soon be featuring several FSC certified species from a very special timber property in the South Kona area. These woods will come from lands owned and managed by Kamehameha Schools (KS) at Honaunau. Kamehameha Schools is a trust that was established by the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Paki Bishop.

“Ke Ali'i Bernice Pauahi Paki Bishop (1831-1884)
Founder of Kamehameha Schools

In 1883, Bernice Pauahi Paki Bishop bequeathed her entire estate for the establishment of a school to educate Hawaiian children. Today, her endowment supports the largest independent pre-kindergarten through grade 12 school in the United States. Born December 19, 1831 in Honolulu, Hawai`i to High Chiefs Abner Paki and Laura Konia, Pauahi Paki was the great-granddaughter of Kamehameha I, the warrior chief who united all the islands of Hawai`i under his rule in 1810.”

The products from KS-Honaunau will be separated from other woods until they are delivered to the market place. HI-Koa-KS, HI-Cedar-KS, HI-Saligna-KS, HI-Ash-KS, and HI-Maple-KS should be entering the market in early 2008.