Two Hawaiian companies have been fined US$149,430 for illegally harvesting trees.
Logger Koa Timber and Hawaii Forest Preservation LLC, which owns the land in question on Big Island, were fined by the state for the illegal harvest of 135 koa trees and two ohia trees near Hilo.
Koa Timber admitted it wrongly harvested trees on 13 acres in the state conservation district. It said it believed it had been working on agricultural land where logging does not require a state permit.
The company hopes to harvest 11,400 acres of koa and is developing plans to plant 36 trees for every one felled.
