An Oahu state senator introduced a bill to make ohia Hawaii’s state tree.
Sen. Gil Riviere, who represents the North Shore, said he decided to introduce Senate Bill 697 to draw more attention to the plight of the ohia.
“I’m always concerned about our watersheds, and our forests and our natural environment,” said Riviere, a former chairman of the Senate Committee on Water and Land.
Riviere said the spread of rapid ohia death, a fungal disease that has infected thousands of acres of ohia forest on the Big Island, underscored the importance of the tree to Hawaii’s ecosystems.
“We’re not honoring the value of these trees as much as we probably could,” Riviere said.
The bill states ohia, an endemic species, is “one of the most important co-evolutionary partners to help create dozens of Hawaii’s biological treasures found only in the islands.” It also cites the importance of ohia to Hawaiian cultural traditions.
The current state tree is the kukui, or candlenut, tree. Native to Malaysia, kukui was brought to Hawaii by ancient Polynesians. Kukui also is the representative flower of Molokai.
The 1959 legislation that selected the kukui tree noted “the multiplicity of its uses to the ancient Hawaiians for light, fuel, medicine, dye, and ornament, as well as the distinctive beauty of its light green foliage which embellishes many of the slopes of our beloved mountains.”
State Sen. Lorraine Inouye, D-Hilo, originally co-signed on to the ohia bill, but said this week she was still in favor of keeping kukui in place and planned to remove her name from SB 697.
Oahu Sens. Donna Mercado Kim and Maile Shimabukuro also co-signed.
“I know there’s a large sentiment to keep kukui as the state tree, but I thought for discussion purposes it would be interesting to talk about (ohia),” Riviere said. “Without them, we’re doomed.”
The bill has not yet been scheduled for a hearing, although it was referred to the committees on International Affairs and the Arts/Water and Land and Hawaiian Affairs.
If SB 697 moves forward, it wouldn’t be the first time a state tree status was changed. In 2014, the Utah legislature changed its state tree to the quaking aspen after a group of fourth-grade students started a campaign to replace the Colorado blue spruce, which had the honor since 1933.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
