A Renewable Research and Discovery Center can work in Girdwood
To the Editor:
Back in October 2007, when we were both students at UAA, my friend Seth and I came up with the idea of starting a university research center in Girdwood, due to the fact that the valley is uniquely abundant with several renewable energy resources: small hydropower, tidal, wind, and biomass.
In recent months the UAA proposal for a Girdwood Renewable Energy Research and Discovery Center has been gaining momentum, and so far our project team has held two public meetings in Girdwood. In the year and a half since the idea was hatched, this proposal has gained much support from Girdwood residents, faculty and staff of the UAA School of Engineering and Environment and Natural Resources Institute, UAA Chancellor Fran Ulmer, Alyeska Resort, volunteer professionals from the Anchorage community, and others.
The center will host research and education on topics ranging from renewable energy, sustainable building design, aquatic and watershed ecology, earth and climate processes, and human-environment interactions in the mountain and estuary ecosystems surrounding Girdwood. While field research will occur at various locations around the valley, a central facility will host public viewing and interpretive displays of renewable energy technology and other research topics.
The UAA-led team will publish a feasibility report in June, which will recommend continuation of feasibility studies to a stage of site selection and facility design and environmental studies. This next stage will require more funding to hire professional consultants, as so far our efforts have been entirely based on volunteer and student labor. Various possible funding sources have been identified, and the team is working very hard to develop a strategy for acquiring funding from grants and government agencies, as well as donations from private individuals and businesses.
We are grateful for the community support and encouragement we have received so far. Sustainable Girdwood is a brand new community organization which coordinating a campaign for Girdwood residents to write letters of support for the UAA project. Also, if community members have any other comments, ideas, concerns, or other feedback, please contact the UAA faculty leader on this project, Prof. Orson Smith at afops@uaa.alaska.edu. To receive a copy of the latest interim report on the Girdwood Renewable Energy Research and Discovery Center, write a letter of support, or get involved locally, please contact Sustainable Girdwood at evanalaska@aol.com .
Community support and guidance is vital for this exciting project to move forward, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Brian Yanity
Electrical Engineer
WHPacific, Inc.
Congratulations to volunteers for bike path bridge work
To the Editor:
Congratulations to John Gallup on his outstanding accomplishment of resurfacing the bike path bridge! John realized we desperately needed to address this issue, but we didn’t have the money to contract it out. Instead, he had faith in our community to fix this safety hazard in the old time Girdwood way-by committing himself to seeing the job done. He found a little money and put in a huge effort—coordinating all of the municipal departments, obtaining permits, materials and then asked for a hand from the community to make it all happen.
Once again, I find I am proud to live in a community where citizens take action to make it a better place, rather than just sit back and complain. Over 20 community members—many of whom needed a big dose of ice and Ibuprofen at the end of the day volunteered to work on this project on their time off! Some of you baked for the crew, and let me tell you—they appreciated it!
Most of them said not to bother to send a ‘thank you’ note. They thought it was fun! They don’t need to be mentioned here because we all know who they are. We saw them working hard for 3 long days and into the evening. What a fine example you set for the handful of teenagers who helped. What a fine example you set for the whole community.
Jonnie Lazarus
Girdwood, AK