by Bethany Goodrich | Nov 28, 2017 | Hoonah, Natural Resource Stewardship
The Hoonah Native Forest Partnership (HNFP) has completed its last season of data collection with our locally trained work crews and is now full-steam ahead with writing a watershed management plan. On November 6th-7th, 2017 the HNFP Steering Committee and Technical team met to discuss the landowners objectives and recommendations as the partnership moves forward. Each of the groups spent time reflecting on important steps for the HNFP to be successful. There were many mutual answers for ways to create success, and both groups agreed it is crucial the Steering Committee to work closely with the Technical Team and that community value needs to be at forefront of all discussions as we move forward with recommendations and projects through the HNFP. This type of collaboration takes a lot of work! Ultimately the watershed management will be collaborative document that will be guided by community values, land manager needs, and technical advice.
A Relationship Between The Steering Committee, Technical Team, and Community
The technical team presented their results and preliminary recommendations in each of the resource areas. These recommendations will be refined by community priorities and values as well as landowner needs before they are finalized in the watershed management plan. Hoonah Indian Association Community Catalyst Ian Johnson will be hosting meetings with community members, and maintaining regular dialogue between the teams. This project will span the winter with a final watershed management plan being completed by April so that the local crews can complete projects. Although the projects are yet to be determined, it is possible that crews will be build on the stream restoration work they learned in 2017.
Check out the presentations on each of the resources that the technical team presented to learn more:
The technical team met at the Sealaska Plaza to go over results and next steps in the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership. Their results will be provided to the community and land managers to collaboratively form the final land management plan for the study area.
To learn more about Hoonah Indian Association’s Environmental Programs, check out their new beautiful website here!
To learn more about the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership or to get involved with the Hoonah Stewardship Council, please get in touch with Ian Johnson. ijohnson@hiatribe.org. 907 945 3545.
by Shaina Kilcoyne | Nov 27, 2017 | Energy Independence, Program Description
The new Home Energy Leader Program (HELP) provides training and resources to residents in Southeast Alaska to lower their energy bills through efficiency and conservation measures. Through the program, a group of Energy Leaders spent the day in training in late January. Home Energy Leaders will use the information and resources they gained in Juneau to engage their fellow community members to reduce energy use. This includes changing out up to five bulbs to LEDs. Participating communities include Hoonah, Yakutat, Kake, Angoon and Metlakatla. Check out these low cost energy savings tips here.
CALL TODAY! Community members interested in participating in the program as a resident participant should contact SSP Energy Catalyst Shaina Kilcoyne, S.kilcoyne@realaska.org or (907) 331 – 7409.
This program is unique because it provides the Home Energy Leaders with the knowledge and hardware to enable them to immediately implement efficiency improvements in their community when they return from the training.
Training: The one-day training in Juneau was presented by a team that includes Certified Energy Manager Jim Fowler of Energy Audits of Alaska and local utility experts. The training included the following content:
- Analysis of utility bills and consumption
- Light bulb savings comparison
- Use of kilowatt meters to assess appliance draw
- Eliminating phantom power consumption & using power strips
- Installation of weather stripping and reduction of air infiltration
- Programming and using programmable thermostats
- Testing water temperature
- Installing faucet aerators
- A hands-on site visit to a home
- Assessing heating and air infiltration
In addition to the training content, Home Energy Leaders received a tablet to work on and materials necessary to engage residents in their communities including: Home Energy Savings guides; energy cost charts with community-specific rates; kilowatt meters; LED bulbs; thermometers; faucet aerators; power strips; and weather stripping.
Resident Participation: After qualifying the resident, the Home Energy Leader will schedule and perform a “site assessment”, which includes analysis of heat and electric consumption, light bulb inventory and LED swap out, plug load assessment, installation of weather stripping, installation of faucet aerators. Site assessment features will be completed as needed and desired.
Each participating resident must pay $25 for the site assessment, which will go back into the Program to allow more homes to be assessed. The true cost of the assessment is $125. Savings vary by community based on energy costs but can be up to $85 per year for the light bulb exchange alone.
Thank you for your interest in this program. Please direct any inquiries to: Shaina Kilcoyne | Renewable Energy Alaska Project | Sustainable Southeast Partnership | s.kilcoyne@realaska.org | 907-331-7409
Robert Venables |Southeast Conference |energy@seconference.org | 907-723-0177
This program is funded by the Alaska Conservation Foundation and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership
by Ian Johnson | Sep 29, 2017 | Food Sustainability, Hoonah, Moby the Mobile Greenhouse, Storytelling, Youth Engagement
In April 2016, “MOBY”, the mobile student greenhouse, rolled off the ferry in Hoonah. The trailer-become-greenhouse had a mission in the small community of 750 – educate students and community members on to grow in a greenhouse and to inspire conversation around a larger, permanent greenhouse in Hoonah. Four months later MOBY had produced beans, peas, tomatoes, sunflowers, swiss chard, kale, spinach and more. The green growth experienced in the greenhouse is a metaphor for the growth in individuals and community.
MOBY’s Timeline in Hoonah
April 17th, 2017 was planting day for the greenhouse. Melissa Thaalesen paired the greenhouse with her middle school health class. Students absorbed the sun rays outside of Hoonah City Schools where MOBY was parked. They got their fingers dirty and planted many flats of leafy greens. Once planted, the health class cared for the small plant starts each day.
Three weeks after planting the greenhouse school ended for the summer. With the release of the students came a change in location and intent for the greenhouse. It was moved to the Hoonah Indian Association and paired with the Hoonah Community Garden. The exposure to the community garden members provided great outreach. Twelve of the community garden members used starts to populate their gardens.
For the rest of the summer, the responsibility of the greenhouse was spread among different people. Ian Johnson, Community Catalyst, worked with student Ted Elliot almost daily. Their work was boosted by Tesh Miller who worked with her student Duane Jack, and five other community members periodically helped with planting, watering, and care of MOBY throughout the summer.
“As a community member who was raised in a subsistence lifestyle, this has taken me back to the idea of clean eating and knowing where our food comes from. After seeing MOBY my family has picked a place in our yard to build a greenhouse, and have begun talking about the items that will go into the greenhouse, how it will look, and how to make it yearly produce.” — Hoonah Community Garden Member
MOBY greenhouse engaged 17 students during the school and during the summer. These students had a great opportunity to be involved in the initial setup of MOBY, however, throughout the summer, one student maintained regular involvement with MOBY. In late June, 12-year old Ted Elliot took his first harvest of swiss chard, kale, and spinach home to his family. Soon after he was regularly snacking on peas draping from heavily laden vines and bringing those to his family too. The produce from the greenhouse was subsidized by Ted’s community garden plot and was well received by the Elliot family. His mom, Elleana, posted to Facebook several times to express her gratitude.
When asked whether a greenhouse could be viable part of Hoonah City Schools, Tesh Miller thought so. “Yes, I could see a greenhouse become a huge part of school. Starting with growing our own produce to growing produce to share with our elders and also growing produce to sell. I could become a class for students to take and learn. The possibilities are endless.”, she said . Shery Ross from Hoonah City Schools added that the MOBY curriculum was useful to teachers and that integration was pretty simple in the classroom to get students interested. “The staff all have a copy of the [MOBY] curriculum. This has provided support for our teachers. The list of seeds and when planting occurs was extremely helpful to new gardeners. The elementary students planted within their own classrooms.” She also added that students were able to bring the successes home to their family, “Grandparents and parents were thankful to receive lettuces and herbs this summer from their student. We see an opportunity to supply fruits, veggies to our school cafeteria and culinary department. The students were very engaged and thoughtful with the planting process. We see this as a viable lifeskill in Hoonah; teaching our students how to plant, care for, share and preserve a garden.”
“I had three students involved with the greenhouse during summer. I included it in their daily summer program session so their involvement depended on their attendance. One of my students had a garden plot also which he was very proud of. He was able to take produce from his garden plot (the starts came from the greenhouse) to his grandmother’s house one afternoon for a snack. The pride in his eyes as he left to share what he had grown with his grandmother shined through his face. He is still talking about going and watering the greenhouse and also is talking about the day he saw produce come from his garden and was able to share it. Another student who helped water has discussed with her parent the possibility of growing her own veggies in the spring. She has talked to me about ideas for what she can grow in garden containers.” — Tesh Miller, Hoonah City Schools
What’s Next?
The arrival of MOBY was paired with a tour of the biomass-heated greenhouses on Prince of Wales Island. The tour brought five people from Hoonah to review how the systems and lessons learned at Coffman Cove, Thorne Bay, Naukati, and Kasaan can be brought to Hoonah. Since the tour, the greenhouse group has met 6 times to lay the groundwork for a biomass greenhouse in Hoonah. Most recently, the greenhouse group hosted a MOBY outreach event which will show off the greenhouse through a MOBY greenhouse culinary demonstration. This was also a brainstorming session with the community to understand the opportunities and hurdles of a future greenhouse project. In Hoonah, we believe MOBY is the stepping stone that Hoonah needed for future greenhouse projects that will positively influence food security issues in the long term.
Thinking about bringing MOBY to your community next year? Here are some lessons learned in Hoonah that you can “grow” from. These are based on the advice from the community and school members who were involved in the project.
- I think MOBY’s biggest success was that it was highly visible – near the community center and on a walking path that many people use – such that community members and particularly children got to see it. It was attractive, had informational panels, and was clearly of interest to many who wandered past. Our family used a number of starts from MOBY that grew reasonably well and kept us from 1) purchasing expensive starts from Juneau, or 2) being behind the growing season because we direct seeded.
- It seemed that there needed to be more clarity about who was watering, etc. as there were many, many days when it needed to be watered and wasn’t. I was afraid to water because I didn’t know the schedule. Many starts were never planted and were consequently “wasted.” Even unplanted starts can be used for salads, etc.
- The starts were “over-planted” so roots didn’t fully develop. They likely should have been thinned considerably in the flats so they could develop a better root system before separating for planting.
- Need to think through what the community will likely use the most of when planting.
- I love the idea of MOBY and wish the school could be more involved. That said, it feels to me that we are sometimes overly ambitious with garden plans, etc. and when summer rolls around we are all overwhelmed.
- Hinderance was that it was a summer thing – and people are busy in the summer!
- The greenhouse needs to be a part of the school throughout the year. Moving the greenhouse down to the community plot was a great idea but the school staff and students lost the feeling of ownership. They were glad to share with the community but the learning process of how to work together needs further development and organization.
- I feel that MOBY was successful with those that knew and were involved with it. To touch more people, the greenhouse needs to be shared, possibly hosting a few community classes on growing produce and having it more visible to the public from the beginning to the end, combined with the community garden plots could improve its community impact.
by Bethany Goodrich | Sep 27, 2017 | Food Sustainability, Hoonah, Moby the Mobile Greenhouse, Youth Engagement, Youth Engagement
Written and published with Alaska’s Capital City Weekly
The days are getting shorter and full of rain. Many Southeast Alaskans are dreading the impending seasonal shift. In Hoonah however, one 12-old boy is pretty excited. Standing over his garden, Ted Elliot pops another snap pea into his mouth.
“The most exciting thing is the end of fall when you get to harvest all your stuff and have a good green meal,” Ted said.
Tucked into the center of town behind the Fishermen’s Daughter, a local restaurant shaped like a boat, sits a grid of raised garden beds called the Hoonah Healing Community Garden. These beds are free for community members to use. Exploding out of the bed that Ted has cared for over the past two years stands impressive snap pea bushes laden with pods. This season, Ted has been bringing fresh produce home to feed his family. His mother, Elleana Elliot, is beaming about it.
“I made jojos the other day from his potatoes! I invited his grandpa down and fed the whole house. We have a family dinner gathering every Sunday and different houses come down and its tradition. Ted has been bringing fresh greens to those Sunday dinners,” Elleana said with excitement.
Located on Chichagof Island, Hoonah is an isolated Tlingit community that is home to roughly 750 year round residents. Like all Southeast Alaskan communities, the great majority of store-bought food travels at a snail’s pace from the lower 48 by barge. Serving quality, fresh produce for family dinner is both challenging and expensive. Residents who aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty, however, see this challenge as an opportunity to learn how to grow more locally.
“At first it wasn’t like this, the way we ate. It was more store bought carrots, more store bought potatoes, store bought snap peas which my mom don’t like that much,” Ted explained. “With gardening, we save a little bit of money and it’s tastier.”
And Ted’s green thumb isn’t just caring for one single raised bed.
“This is Moby,” Ted said as he marched into a small, bright, wooden structure beside the community garden. “Moby is a great and wonderful greenhouse on wheels.”
Moby the Mobile Greenhouse is a project by the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership to kickstart greenhouse growing in rural Alaska. The structure was designed by students at the University of Alaska Southeast and built using local lumber by Juneau-Douglas High students. Moby comes equipped with raised beds and classroom curriculum.
When Moby first came to town in April, Hoonah teacher Melissa Thaalesen used the greenhouse as a tool to teach nutrition and healthy eating. Moby also provided starts for 12 community members looking to jumpstart garden growing. With the help of those seedlings, growers in the Healing Garden celebrated the lushest and most successful growing year since the community beds were raised in 2012. When school ended, Hoonah moved Moby to the Community Garden where volunteers, like Ted and his mother Elleana, began caring for it.
“It’s been a good food provider for us,” Ted said as he showed off chard, kale, peas, green beans, tomatoes and more. “It’s solar powered too! Not many greenhouses are solar powered which really saves on electricity and what not.”
A solar panel installed on the roof powers a fan that helps circulate air and regulate the temperature.
Below the solar panel and the growing space is another unique characteristic of Moby: wheels. Moby is made to move. Like many residents of Hoonah and Southeast, Moby gets a ticket on the Alaska Marine Highway System and can travel to different rural communities. Last year, Moby spent the growing season in Kake. This year, Moby paid Hoonah a visit. Next spring, Moby will begin its journey to a third community.
“I’m going to be sad when Moby moves to a new community but I’m excited that someone will go through the same experience I got to go through,” Ted said.
Where will Moby go? Applications will open in late October and any Southeast Alaskan community can apply. Teachers, individual schools, school districts and community organizations are eligible.
Ted’s advice for the next cohort of gardeners who get to fill Moby with greens:
“Be nice to Moby and Moby will be nice to you. If you weed its gardens it will give you whatever you planted. And if you don’t, you don’t get what you really want or maybe you get half as big as what you were thinking.”
Despite its transitory lifestyle, the impacts Moby leaves behind appear lasting in Hoonah. “It’s almost like Moby helped me,” Ted said. “My garden last year wasn’t that good. It helped me learn that daily weeding would lead to success.”
Community wide, Moby has helped seed momentum for a more permanent greenhouse project. Hoonah Indian Association and the City of Hoonah teamed up to initiate a feasibility study analyzing the economic viability of a district biomass heatloop. This proposed heatloop would connect and heat five downtown buildings with renewable energy. Community volunteers are itching to tether a greenhouse structure into that loop.
For now, as long as there are greens to gather in Moby or his raised bed, Ted will keep sharing.
“He will come home with a handful of snap peas every day and we put them in salads. He comes home all muddy and it’s nice to see him getting dirty again,” Elleana said.
Ted is currently deliberating how he will plant his garden next year. He’s considering focusing on carrots and potatoes. Of course, he plans to keep space for his famous snap peas.
“When he comes home, he tells me all about his snap peas and he has pride in his eyes. He’s learning, you know? He is getting involved and it’s pretty cool. We are very impressed and proud of him,” Elleana said.
Learn more about Moby the Mobile Greenhouse by clicking here!
by Shaina Kilcoyne | Sep 19, 2017 | Blog Reports, Energy Independence, Hydaburg, Kasaan, Klawock, Sitka
Prince of Wales residents were invited to attend an Air Source Heat Pump Expo on this spring at the Craig High School. The Expo featured guest speaker Dana Fischer from Efficiency Maine, and included mechanical contractors, financial institutions, and experts statewide through a webinar.
The event was organized because the micro-grid that supplies POW residents with electricity will soon have more hydro power electricity on-line, than the island currently demands. Today most of POW residents use diesel oil to heat buildings; the new hydro plant may provide a unique opportunity for residents to convert to a more efficient and sustainable heating option.
What are Air Source Heat Pumps? Air source heat pumps (ASHP) use electricity to circulate air through a heat pump, this is the same technology used in your refrigerator, but in reverse. The heat pump extracts heat from the air outside and transfers it into the building. Even in cold climates, outdoor air contains heat. The efficiency of a heat pump will change with the temperature outside. High performance ASHP models have been shown to perform at, and below, 00F.
In southeast Alaska’s mild climate, heat pumps can have a coefficient of efficiency (COE) that surpasses other heating technologies. For example, a COE of 2 means that for every one unit of energy which goes into the heat pump system, two units of energy are produced. It is typical for a heat pump unit to deliver four units of heat for every unit of electricity at 50°F, but only deliver two units of heat for every unit of electricity at a temperature of zero. However, a COE of two is still much better than the COE for heating fuel (COE of 0.85), or electric space heaters (COE of 1), neither of which change depending on temperature.
Electric Rates and Conversion to an ASHP: Hiilangaay Hydropower is expected to come online in 2018. The 5-megawatt hydropower project near Hydaburg will eliminate the need for diesel powered electric generation (except during times of maintenance), and result in a surplus of clean energy available for future growth on the island. Growth in electric demand will actually result in utility fixed costs being spread over a larger sales base, resulting in downward pressure on rates.
Prince of Wales residential customers currently pay $0.25 per kWh, $0.23 per kWh with Power Cost Equalization (PCE). Heat pump use and the related cost will vary by household circumstances. AP&T strongly encourages customers to do their own research and analysis based on the cost of heating fuel, electricity, heating habits, and the age/ efficiency of the old heating system.
It can be challenging for consumers to predict the cost comparison over time, because today’s fuel 
and electric prices are unlikely to be the same as tomorrows. One advantage offered by ASHPs on Prince of Wales Island is that they provide more stable, predictable pricing due to the fact that they use locally available hydropower. The price of hydropower is relatively flat, and is not susceptible to global events which impact the supply and price of oil.
Homeowners are encouraged to maintain a back up heat system for very cold temperatures. This allows consumers to use fuel if diesel prices temporarily fall, allowing residents to take advantage of temporary price swings. Some consumers also choose to keep wood stoves or propane heaters as supplemental heat sources.
The Cold Climate Housing Research Center has done a lot of research on the effectiveness of ASHP’s in Alaska, and specifically in SE Alaska. For more information, including contact information for mechanical installers and financial institutions, visit AP&T. To request an Air Source Heat Pump financial calculator, email s.kilcoyne@realaska.org.
