A snapped 'Ohi'a tree, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park / National Park Service

It’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to deliberately kill an ‘ohi’a tree, but someone recently snapped more than a dozen young trees along trails at the summit of Kilauea at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Broken trees were documented along Crater Rim Trail, Kūpina’i Pali (Waldron Ledge), Halema’uma’u Trail and Ha’akulamanu (Sulphur Banks). It is evident these trees were not damaged during the early December storms, but were maliciously harmed in the last few days. The biggest of the trees is about three inches in diameter and at least 15 feet high.

‘Ohi’a, the most common native tree in Hawai’i [bearing beautiful fringy red blooms], are critical to forest health. They are the backbone of the watersheds and are vital for the survival of numerous other native plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth. ‘Ohi’a trees are not only threatened by invasive species and development, but also by the invasive Rapid ‘Ohi’a Death (ROD) fungal disease. ROD has killed hundreds of thousands of trees on the island of Hawai’i and more than 300 trees in the park. Wounded trees are highly prone to contracting ROD.

Park stewards acted quickly to seal the stumps with pruning seal. Without an open wound, healthy trees are able to resist ROD spores from taking hold and may be able to resprout. Hopefully, they can find all the impacted trees in time to save them.

Not only is this act of destruction disturbing, it's also a federal crime. If you have information about who did this, or if you see someone destroying or defacing park resources, report it to park dispatch 808-985-8170.