“Eucalyptus is the fire equivalent of the Cane toad. They are growing in places they were never meant to be.”

- Professor David Bowman

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-09/wildfires-portugal-greece-california-hawaii-euclyptus-trees/102760264

 Is the danger of a Hamakua fire worth taking the precautionary measures to prevent it?

By Michael Markrich

There were many warnings that preceded the Maui Fire of August 8, 2023. Newspaper articles, scientific journals, and members of the community from 2018 and all expressed their repeated concerns about the flammable dry grasses, eucalyptus groves, and other flammable plants in the open areas where sugar had once been carefully cultivated. All of the warnings demanded the same thing: that state and county governments acknowledge the increasing heat, drought, and risk of fire and take action to reduce the fire risk - but this was done in a meaningful way. No one should have been surprised when the devastating fire occurred. Students of Hawaiian history know this because we have all been here before.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/08/22/maui-fire-2018-lahaina-warning/

On July 3, 1901, it was reported that a Native Hawaiian worker accidentally set dry brush alight, which caused a forest fire that burned in Hamakua for three months. The fire, which took place after a serious drought, was such a disaster that it led to the reorganization of the Territorial Government. (1902 Governor’s Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry)

If a Hamakua fire of similar intensity broke out today and spread to Hilo, there is a possibility that the damage and the loss of life could be as great, or greater than, what took place on Maui in 2023.

The specific problem is the 20,000 eucalyptus trees of the species Eucalyptus Grandis in thickly planted tree plantation groves. This is what remains of the 30,000 acres of eucalyptus trees planted in plantation rows since 1995 as a potential biomass crop, in an experiment partially funded in part by the US Department of Energy short rotation Woody Crops Program (https://www.fs.usda.gov/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr137/psw_gtr137.pdf ).

Eucalyptus contains oils in its wood and leaves that make it extremely flammable and therefore a good candidate for biofuel. Biofuels in the form of sugar bagasse historically played a big role in plantation economics as they covered nearly all of the power costs of the factories, with the remainder sold to the local power companies. It has been more than 20 years since the sugar plantations operated. But the flammable grasses and trees that were once part of the old sugar ecosystem remain. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0960852491901195)

Although this eucalyptus variety was said to be chosen for being less flammable than others, no one can be certain what would happen in the case of an extended dry spell.

The potential risk of today’s situation comes to our attention because Hawaii is experiencing an El Nino-related drought. (https://www.governing.com/climate/hawaiis-drought-expected-to-continue-into-2024) Although most of the fire risk on the island is presently thought to be in the dryer areas of the island in Kona - Hamakua could once again suffer from an extended dry spell that would make a dangerous eucalyptus fire possible. Adding to that danger is the presence of flammable grasses and albizia trees. One cannot forget that this summer there have been wildfires on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island.

The eucalyptus tree canopy is abnormally broad because the trees have been growing for many years and the eucalyptus tree’s natural predator, the koala bear, is not present. The koala bears feed off the eucalyptus leaves in the leaf canopy and reduce its size. Because the eucalyptus trees contain natural oils that are very flammable, if a fire broke out among the leaves, it would be difficult to control.

To compound the risk, there is little access in and out. In the event of an intense fire, evacuating more than 16,486 people (US Census 2010), residents, and tourists who live in the small towns, villages, and farms in the area would be very difficult. Were the fire to reach Hilo, the danger could be catastrophic and potentially dwarf the $5.5 billion suffered as a result of the Maui Fire.

Faced with this severe risk, why haven’t the trees been removed? The problem is one of politics and missed opportunity. The original plan to harvest the trees and burn them as biomass in an old but upgraded sugar plantation power plant to generate electricity and sell the power to the Hawaii Electric Light Company grid was turned down by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission in 2022. The principal opposition to the plan was that the burning wood generated by the company HuHonua Bioenergy LLC was a threat to the environment. It would potentially release 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the upper atmosphere over 30 years. The fire plume from burning wood contains more carbon dioxide than coal or natural gas. It would have also cost the Big Island energy consumers an additional 7 cents per kWh or $10.97 in their monthly bills. This PUC ruling was upheld in a unanimous decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court as the project was deemed not to be in the best interests of the people of Hawaii. (https://www.civilbeat.org/2023/03/hawaii-supreme-court-unanimously-rejects-big-islands-hu-honua-power-project/)

But what would happen if there was a sevrere drought and a catastrophic fire of 20,000 acres of abnormally large eucalyptus trees burned as in California. Wouldn’t the sudden release of that carbon dioxide into the upper atmosphere be worse? This is to say nothing of the calamity; this would result in lost lives and property damage and in the ability of Hawaii residents to get future homeowners insurance.

As a consequence, no action was taken to significantly reduce the number of trees, and the fire risk grows each year.

Critics of this decision would answer that these concerns from a strictly environmental perspective are correct. But there are other things to be considered. After all, eucalyptus as a member of the myrtle family, is important to the local Hawaii flora industry, which is valued at $47 million dollars. Here and on the mainland myrtle plays a key role in floral arrangements. People in the floral industry believe for this reason that a certain amount is necessary for Hawaii’s economy. The issue in Hawaii was compounded by the decision by Governor David Ige in 2020 (https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/blog/main/nr20-07myrtleimportban/) to restrict the importation of plants, plant parts and seeds from the myrtle family (of which eucalyptus is one) to prevent importation of plant fungus and diseases that threaten the ohia trees.. This has meant that local florists are now dependent on small locally grown eucalyptus plants.

How did we get into this complicated situation?

The story of the danger facing Hawaii can be traced back to 1835, when foresters in Australia discovered huge groves of naturally growing eucalyptus. The eucalyptus grew very fast, and because its resin has natural protective toxins and few predators, it was easy to plant. Foresters exported it to areas all over the world that needed reforestation of hillsides so that they could create watersheds on barren hillsides that would help commercial crops like sugar grow. The trees grow rapidly, and because of their toxic resins, they have no natural enemies in the places they were planted. The export of the trees to places like Hawaii, California, Chile, and Portugal was a successful business for 200 years. Then the world got hotter and the problems began. (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-09/wildfires-portugal-greece-california-hawaii-euclyptus-trees/102760264)

According to Australian Botanist Tim Curran, the following characterizes eucalyptus: 

"The first point is that eucalyptus do have inherently flammable foliage," he said. "The second point, and this is probably the more important one in terms of why eucalypts change fire regimes, particularly in other parts of the world, is that they produce a lot of flammable material in the leaf litter layer … known as fine fuels."

"The other thing that eucalypts do, which helps a wildfire run through a landscape, is that they can cast their burning embers ahead of the fire front. The peeling bark that curls up the side of a gum tree can be swept up to 30 kilometers ahead of a fire.”

“All of these things combine to make eucalypt forests particularly flammable parts of the landscape in those environments they've been introduced to." - Dr. Tim Curran

In addition to this, Hawaii lacks the koala bears that live in eucalyptus trees in Australia, reducing the number of leaves in the tree canopy and thereby reducing the risk of fire. When this factor is combined with higher temperatures and the possibility of fire, the danger of strong fires intensifies.

A review of the recent fires in California over the last 20 years points to eucalyptus as playing a significant role. These fires across California have been catastrophic since 1991, and most of these have been made much worse by the rapid burning of eucalyptus. The 1991 fires killed 25 people, injured 150, and burned 2,843 single-family homes and 437 apartment and condominium units. The fires have grown in intensity each year. 2024 is now said to be the worst fire year in California’s history. Efforts to remove the trees, even knowing that they were a potential danger, were turned down in the courts after the Oakland fire of 1991 because of environmental lawsuits. (https://www.berkeleyside.org/2016/09/19/fema-pulls-funding-for-tree-clearing-in-berkeley-hills)

No one had ever intended Hawaii’s eucalyptus groves, which are said to be a less flammable species from South Africa, to grow so large or last so long, but each time a suggestion was found to cut and export the crop, i.e., turn it into pulp for sales to Japan, the deals fell through. Only 10,000 of the 30,000 acres of eucalyptus have been harvested. This leaves the Big Island with eucalyptus trees spread over a vast area with tall trees and a broad canopy of flammable leaves and - presently - no economic way to harvest them. This has already created a fire problem. The Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources has already warned about the possibility of brush fires in the area. (https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/06/05/breaking-news/multiple-agencies-contain-1400-acre-wildfire-on-hamakua-coast/)

The Alternatives

1) Hold a forestry conference in Hamakua that looks at the future of the forest and weighs all different kinds of possibilities. The Hamakua community would be brought together with land owners, state agencies, specialists from Hawaii Community College, the University of Hawaii, the National Forest Service, the US Department of Agriculture and tropical forest experts from throughout the world, to make a long term plan for the forest. Look for more ways that Hawaii wood craftsmen could make use of local wood for different purposes for art or constuction.

2) Removing the eucalyptus groves in Hamakua would likely cost more than $5,000 per acre. The tree stumps must also be removed, and care has to be taken to remove spores that can regenerate. The vast amounts of wood have to be sold or disposed of. Considering this cost would be nearly more than $100 million, there is little interest in this. It would be unfair to the land owners.

3) Another alternative is to simply cut the trees and leave them to rot on the land in the forest and leave it to the landowners to clear. But this also has potential economic difficulties, as the wood would get wet and rot on the land. If large amounts of the wood dries, it would be fire fuel in the forest and the risk of fire would increase.

4) The other possibility is to resume harvesting the remaining trees and reconsider restarting Hu Honua LLC for a limited time. Perhaps a way could be found to mitigate the pollution through carbon capture of some kind. Forestry professor Orlo Steele of Hawaii Community College has said that the modern stainless steel technology used by the plant, makes use of the stems and not the leafy parts of the trees so less carbon is released. He writes “Basically bio-energy is the only kind of fuel that can be carbon negative as it draws down CO2 during the process of photosynthesis more efficiently than any other system. In the case of trees used for biofuel, carbon is stored in the various plant parts with most of it staying in the soil in the form roots, leaf and twig turn over and after harvest residue. Hu Honua is only chipping the stems, which are burned to run the steam generator where the CO2 is filtered and scrubbed so no smoke and almost no CO2 is released.” (Steele email 2024)  If a way also could be found to reduce costs for ratepayers, this would be the cheapest, fastest way to reduce the number of tall eucalyptus trees through a forestry program. It is likely the biomass to fuel process to create electricity - would be less risky than the potential losses that would come from a a catastrophic blaze. However, this is controversial because many people on the Big Island don’t think any burning of biomass should take place.

5) Encourage the growth of controlled stands of eucalyptus for the protection and benefit of Hawaii’s valuable floral industry. But look for alternative woods during a period of agricultural transition. Coconut trees have been proposed for the purpose of creating - high value bio gas from coconut oil. This is currently being done in Indonesia and the Philippines. Coconut plantations have a long history in the Western Pacific.

6) Lastly, the other alternative is to disregard all warnings and hope what happened on Maui on August 8, 2023, and in Hamakua July 3, 1901, doesn’t happen again. In 1901, it was convenient to blame a single Native Hawaiian for the catastrophe. In today’s world, if something were to happen many more of us in Hawaii would be to blame.

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