Fleming Archives photo
| David Thomas Fleming, 1881-1955 with Haleakala Silversword,
recognized as a threatened species since 1922 due to grazing
cattle, goats and careless overharvest for flower lei. The plant has
been strictly monitored and protected by the federal government
since, and is considered a successful conservation story.
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David Thomas Fleming was nine years old in 1889
when the Fleming family moved from Scotland. His
father had been offered a job managing Grove
Ranch, today a part of Haleakala Ranch.
Imagine the intense enjoyment and appreciation
for Maui after enduring the long, bleak winters and
short summers of Scotland. David embraced the
Hawaiian culture, quickly learning fluent Hawaiian.
Weekends were spent hiking, an eager student
studying native flora and fauna.
Majoring in Hydrology in college, David learned
the importance of watershed areas and how trees
attract moisture. Working for Grove Ranch, he
instigated the planting of trees to help counter
drought and bring back the rainfall. Many stand
today as a monument to his life, as the Cook Pines
on Giggle Hill at Kauhikoa.
In 1912, the great opportunity and challenge to his
life came when he became manager of Honolua
Ranch, a grazing ground for a few head of scrub
cattle. For the ranch to prosper, he knew a steady
source of water was needed to supply agricultural,
domestic and industrial needs.
Acres of watershed area, stripped of Koa and
`Ohi`a were reforested. Sandlewood and Koa were
planted on the mountainside. Ingeniously, 75 acres
above Honolua were planted with a worthless
wood, Ficus, to assure valuable watershed will
remain forever. [Note: There were no pollinators for
Ficus in Hawai`i in the early 1900s.]
Under David's management, Honolua Ranch
thrived to become an agricultural industry--a
booming pineapple business with side crops of
watermelon, corn, jackfruit, aloe and timberwoodÑ
experimenting with varieties of mango, lychee,
avocado, and citrus.
Traveling the world seeking new plants to "make
Maui a better place to live," his passion was at home
exploring the areas of Maui "untouched by the
haunts of man." His favorite place was the Auwahi
Forest, rich with native flora and fauna, a valuable
watershed area on Maui's southern slopes.
In his years on Maui, David witnessed the
degradation of the Auwahi Forest due to cattle and
the aggressive Kikuyu grass introduced to Hawai`i for
drought tolerant pasture. David's dream was to plant
an arboretum to preserve the dry-land species from
extinction. In 1952, the D.T. Fleming Arboretum at
Pu`u Mahoe in Ulupalakua was planted.
| Erica von Allmen photo |
| Aerial view of the D.T. Fleming Arboretum within the Pu`u
Mahoe cinder cone.
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2008
Today, the D.T. Fleming Arboretum is Hawai`i's
oldest and largest native arboretum, protecting 104
native species, a seed resource for their preservation
and the restoration of South Maui's dry-land
forests, where proud native trees once stood.
Eighty years ago David Fleming had the foresight to
pioneer the conservation efforts popular today.
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