HILO, Hawaii — The rising value of koa wood--used for everything from Hawaiian ... A koa tree theft ring was busted on Kauai last year, and a Big Island grand jury issued indictments in a ...

A previous passion was jewelry, and Smith designed his own ... Smith had to be patient to get his Phantom Koa. Koa wood from Hawaii is protected, and it has a history. King Kamehameha had ...

Koa is the best known wood from the Hawaiian Islands. Koa belongs to the genus Acacia. This genus is composed of nearly 800 species, 21 of which are native to the United States, with the rest ...