Scouting in Hawaii began in the 1900s. It serves thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

David McHattie Forbes was a Scottish botanist, ethnologist, sugarcane plantation manager and explorer on the island of Hawai'i. He practised forestry, agronomy, and horticulture and served as the first district forester of South Kohala in 1905, and twenty years later was appointed a judge in Waimea.