Squirrels of the world, take note. You can buy some aerial real estate in Hawaii for less than $50. Not a bad investment for a well-traveled rodent who wants to do well and do good. Here's the info. The Big Island’s Mauna Lani Resort and non-profit group True Offsets are asking the public to buy a tree sapling for $37 and plant it in a 660 acre plot on the rainy, dreamy Hamakua Coast of the Big Island. This is part of an ecological restoration project that will fight global warming and preserve Native Hawaiian plants. True Offsets will show you regular pics on the Internet to keep you posted on your tree's growth rate. Here's the killer part. When the tree is harvested, investors get a check for 5% of the tree's value at harvest time. Koa trees, which are prized for lustrous guitars (Martin buys a ton of them) and lovely furniture, can sell for $50,000 or more in today's market. Koa trees take 30 to 50 years to mature, so you might want to leave your check to your children. For those with a shorter time horizon they can buy other varieties (bamboo, avocado, and native Ohia) that will be harvested sooner. The Mauna Lani Resort has kicked off the action with the purchase of 135 trees, each tagged with a bar code to track its progress. . Each tree will have a bar code to help investors track it. True Offsets hopes to convert an old sugar mill into a saw mill powered with renewable energy (the hydro energy in Hamakua is considerable).

Mahalo to Hawaii Magazine for pointing this one out.

—Alex, 09/22/08