For decades, cattle had grazed across large areas of what is now Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on Hawaii's Big Island, leaving thousands of acres dominated by pasture grasses instead of native forest. Then, beginning in the 1990s, conservationists began rebuilding the forest one tree at a time. Between 1992 and 1996, American Forests supported the planting of 150,650 native koa trees across degraded pasture at Hakalau. The aim was not simply to put trees back on the landscape. The young forest was intended to create habitat and nesting areas for some of Hawaii's rarest birds.
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