Pete Howlett
Well-known member
There was a guy in India selling 'koa'... looked like it on YouTube. He never got back to me with a sample. I guess the Chinese got in there before any of us could blink 
source for koa
- Thread starter little timber
- Start date
sequoia
Well-known member
Thank you Mainger. Duly noted. However, your sentence structure is flawed in the second sentence. It should read: "It should be spelled Acacia koa (not to be scentifically pendatic), with a lowercake k and italics."
(just kidding!!!)
Anyway, the stuff is rare and expensive I will grant you. Is it worth it? Yes!... Just sold and delivered my only koa uke to a new owner. She was thrilled. I was thrilled to make some money. Goodbye koa. Probably never again.
(just kidding!!!)
Anyway, the stuff is rare and expensive I will grant you. Is it worth it? Yes!... Just sold and delivered my only koa uke to a new owner. She was thrilled. I was thrilled to make some money. Goodbye koa. Probably never again.
mainger
Well-known member
Touché!
This brings in another line of questions. Why exactly is it rare? "Acacia koa is the second-most common tree in Hawaii" (source: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~idol/research.html). Is it rare because those fancy curly logs are rare? Is it rare because good sounding pieces are rare?
Doc_J
Well-known member
From The Wood Database...
"Comments: Although Koa is naturally quite abundant on the islands of Hawaii, most Koa forests have been cleared for grazing pastures; and since young Koa seedlings are edible for grazing animals, most new trees are prevented from growing to lumber-harvestable size. As a result, mature Koa trees are either scarce, or in hard-to-access mountainous locations, and the price of Koa is likely to only increase further in the future. Australian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) is considered to be a more sustainable, and visually/mechanically similar substitute."
Moore Bettah Ukuleles
Well-known member
Touché!
This brings in another line of questions. Why exactly is it rare? "Acacia koa is the second-most common tree in Hawaii" (source: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~idol/research.html). Is it rare because those fancy curly logs are rare? Is it rare because good sounding pieces are rare?
Are you kidding? I read the source on that quote and I call total BS. I lived here for several years before I saw my first koa tree. You have to know just where to go to see them. There are so many trees, especially the invasive ones, that are much more abundant.
tparse
Well-known member
I spend 6 months a year living in the Koa forrest on the Big Island. I can tell you the only reason Koa is rare is because of animals...two and four legged. These days it is because of the 4 legged ones, especially wild sheep and goats. I can go into a Koa grove and see hundreds of small Koa trees and 100% of them are topped mostly from wild sheep. To save the Koa all of the land must be fenced and well maintained. That is incredibly hard and expensive. A bounty on wild sheep and goats would go a long way towards preserving the Koa. Don't hold your breath on that tho.
mainger
Well-known member
Hey, don't shoot the messenger!
I'm only relaying information. The guy does seem pretty legitimate (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/Idolt/)... I did do my undergraduate thesis on Miconia calvescens, though, so I am familiar with the invasives issue in Hawaii.This is a very interesting read: http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr211/psw_gtr211.pdf
Pages 3 and 5 hold useful maps of the bi island, and the whole section on physiological ecology is very interesting, as is the second chapter on koa forest ecology.
Don't get me wrong; I have (unfortunately) never set foot on the Hawaiian Islands. I'm interested in the discussion about the tree, its availability and associated value. I'll be happy to hear more about your first encounter with one, if you'd like to share.
these guys are trying......pretty sure they have the property fenced off....and using the same land where most of the Koa trees grew in the days past...
http://legacytrees.org/reforestation.html
Moore Bettah Ukuleles
Well-known member
Thanks for bringing that up Len. Jeff Duster runs an excellent program with his Legacy Trees reforestation project. But even he will admit that maintaining miles of fencing is a never ending job and extremely expensive. The feral animal problem on BI has really gotten out of control and threatens much of the flora and fauna here.
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Pete Howlett
Well-known member
Goat curry and lamb shank is the answer...
resoman
Well-known member
Pigs are bad too. I knew a guy from Captain Cook that they paid to get pigs off some of the farms.
