When Kaua’i High School students returned to school yesterday morning, their beloved Bohdi tree, standing 75-feet tall, was reduced to a stump at the end of the service road near the cafeteria. “There’s nothing left, something that was there every
When Kaua’i High School students returned to school yesterday morning, their beloved Bohdi tree, standing 75-feet tall, was reduced to a stump at the end of the service road near the cafeteria.
“There’s nothing left, something that was there every day,” said Kaua’i High senior Amy Hutchinson, vice president of the Nature Club. “It was a major part of campus, a symbol.”
“We’re just disgusted and in shock they could just do this,” said Hutchinson. “There are so many students and administrators against this.”
The Bohdi tree, which is said to have been taken from a cutting of a tree on the Bishop Estate, has special significance to Buddhists, as the Bishop Estate tree is said to have been taken from a clipping of the original tree under which the Buddha first gained enlightenment in India.
The KHS tree was at least 50 years old, said Hutchinson.
Hutchinson said that her group had collected over 400 signatures of KHS students and administrators opposed to cutting down the tree.
“This morning, a lot of students were upset,” said Hutchinson on Monday.
Corey Nakamura, vice principal of KHS, said he had never seen the petition. The tree’s removal was in discussion for over two years, he said.
But the maintenance of the tree had become an issue, and the roots and the limbs were becoming a safety issue, he said.
“The main concern was maintenance of the tree,” said Nakamura. “It’s a costly amount” every year, to trim the tree and remove the leaves that accumulate at its base.
“It was a hard decision. It’s been a landmark for a while,” he said. “It’s been a part of KHS, but we need to look at the future.”
And with a grant to trim and remove trees, as well as fix the rain gutters at the school, the administration saw a way to cut costs as well as protect students, he continued.
“Students’ health and safety was a concern,” said Nakamura.
If, during high winds, limbs were to break and fall off the tree, a student could have been seriously hurt, he said.
Plus, the roots had begun to cause permanent structural damage to the area fronting Building B, said Nakamura. A nearby culvert was also damaged by the tree’s roots, he added.
Nakamura said all of the planning was done in collaboration with the Kaua’i Outdoor Circle, an environmental group which strives to protect older trees.
“We considered the Outdoor Circle’s suggestions,” which included adding three, 15-foot milo trees in place of the larger tree, said Nakamura. The administration will follow the Outdoor Circle’s recommendations, he said.
“It was a beautiful Bohdi tree, not a tree you find just anywhere, with cultural significance,” said Catherine Peroff, president of the Outdoor Circle.
“I felt pretty bad that the tree was taken down,” said Peroff. “I feel a little better knowing that three trees” will be put up in its place.
“At least it’s something,” she said.
But Hutchinson said students were dismayed that the tree was cut down without their knowledge, and that cuttings could not even be taken.
“It’s just a stump now,” she said.
Nakamura said the tree had to be cut down while students were away. Heavy machinery had to be brought in to take the tree, which created noise and safety concerns. Kauai Nursery and Landscaping officials wanted to do it over the weekend, said Nakamura.
“This was not one person’s decision,” he said. “We would have never been able to afford to cut down the tree” without the grant.
“We had to make a decision on what the future would” bring for the school, the vice principal said. “There was no type of malicious intent. No one was going behind anyone’s back.”
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mailto:tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
