Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

DW: Yes, he was about the best observer. He was an entomologist primarily, but R.C. L.
Perkins, he was a very prolific scientist. It was shortly after release, this was in 1890s,
that he found the mynah birds were so abundant.
KM: Wow!
DW: But, it was 1865 or something like that they were introduced. So the numbers reached
fantastic size. So, (at some point) something controlled the numbers to much less. So,
the impact, you can’t tell. Some of the game birds, pheasants or quails and whatnot, they
were very abundant. We’ve never known to reach those numbers again.
KM: It’s an amazing history! May I ask, if we step back, how did you become interested in this
work
DW: I always liked it.
KM: From when you were a youth
DW: Yes.
KM: What was your first job in the Territory You said, already in ‘47 you’re hunting on Mauna
Kea
DW: Yes, was in ‘47. I went in the Army ‘44, ‘45, ‘46, in ‘47, I got out of the army. I went to Hilo
where an aunt and uncle were living. I met this guy, Schwartz, you know, the book,
“Game Birds in Hawaii.” The Territory had hired him to do a bird survey, the game birds.
KM: Uh-hmm.
DW: And I went to a meeting and he explained the Federal Aid Program, and that great things
can happen with the game birds and management. So I talked to him and he told me
when I get home to Honolulu to get a hold of him and so he hired me and sent me to
Kaua‘i.
KM: And this was Charlie
UW: Charlie Schwartz.
KM: Charlie Schwartz, oh. He was working for the Territory at that time
DW: Yes, a contract for one year. He sent me to Kaua‘i and said, “The forester will meet you
and set you up.” He was supposed to have…
KM: [chuckles] Had called him first
DW: He was supposed to meet me a week later, and go over and tell me what to do with the
program, and I never saw that guy for twenty years.
KM: ‘Auwë! [chuckling]
LW: Never came.
DW: But he had a tiff with Lennox, and he quit and went to the mainland again.
KM: I see, oh.
DW: And, so he was giving a talk to a hunting group in Hilo when I met him again.
LW: You should tell him about when you were in the fourth grade, what inspired you to… I
think that’s a wonderful story that you told me about this haole school teacher that came
from the mainland, and every morning used to tell you folks, “How lucky you are to be
living in Hawai‘i how beautiful it is!” You were in Ali‘iolani School, used to look at the
mountains and praise all these kids in Hawai‘i. And he said, he fell in love with his school
teacher in the fourth grade and made up his mind, he was going to save Hawai‘i.
DW: Yes. And I was lucky that I met Mr. Munro.
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:341