WAILUA — They are silent, stalwart symbols of the idyllic isles, saying “Hawai‘i” like a hula dancer or big-wave rider.
So imagine residents’ and visitors’ angst when one day there are 50-foot tall coconut palms and the next day there are four-foot stumps.
John Young of Wailua was among the flabbergasted to see notice the change in the former panoramic rows of coconut trees in the Wailua River State Park Kaumuali‘i Area off Kuamo‘o Road.
By his count, 62 trees in two areas there were recently cut from their previous heights down to stumps, and Young wanted to find out why.
So, he drove to the State Office Building in Lihu‘e to see his old friend Wayne Souza, only to find out that Souza retired. A woman in the DLNR Division of State Parks office told Young that the cut trees were dangerous, and had grown too tall for hand-trimmers to climb, Young said.
Retired and living off of Kuamo‘o Road adjacent to other state-park land, Young has a unique history with Souza and some of the remaining coconut trees.
He pays $100 a year per tree to have three coconut trees trimmed on state land adjacent to his home, making good on a verbal agreement with Souza after Souza told Young the three trees would be cut down because the state didn’t want to pay to have them trimmed anymore.
“I just don’t want them cut down,” Young said.
He is not alone in his volunteerism to keep the area looking nice, as some of his other neighbors also donate their time, talent and equipment to keep state parks and other public areas tidy in the face of cuts that in some cases have all but eliminated state maintenance crews.
Deborah Ward, DLNR spokesperson, said some of the work done was regular maintenance tree trimming, involving 338 trees in Wailua River State Park.
“In an area of the park at Kaumuali‘i, on the Kapa‘a side of Wailua River, below ‘Opaeka‘a Falls and across from Wailua Marina, were about 121 very tall and old trees, some of which were at risk of falling onto the road or nearby power lines,” she said.
“Due to their age, some of the trees were also spindly at the top and unsafe for trimmers to climb,” she said.
“After consulting with an arborist, and talking to the (Kaua‘i) Outdoor Circle and the Wailua-Kapa‘a Community Association, Division of State Parks trimmed about 53 of the coconut trees and cut 68 to waist-high, and is planning to replant coconut palms next to these with saplings from the remaining healthy coconut trees.
“Once the keiki grow sufficiently high, the old stumps will be cut to the ground,” Ward said.
“Our State Parks crews will be planting these keiki soon with replacement trees, and this will continue the next generation of these trees, which were planted in 1898.
“The park trees are contemporaneous with the Coco Palms hotel coconut trees. Coco Palms began planting keiki trees a number of years ago and Division of State Parks will consider also doing this where appropriate,” Ward said.
