Beginning in May of this year, a new questionnaire survey was given to residents of Aleknagik and Dillingham in order to determine how they heat their homes. This survey was an instrumental part of a new study conducted by the Bristol Bay Native Association with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and in partnership with the Aleknagik Traditional Council and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
This study was the first of its kind in the area, and indicated that because of rising fuel prices, more residents are having to supplement their heating needs with firewood. This shift in the source for heat during the winter has raised issues regarding air quality control and maintaining a sustainable way to use forest resources to support the increasing biomass harvesting levels, researchers said. Responsible wood-burning techniques and sustainable harvesting of firewood has not always been used by the residents of Aleknagik and Dillingham, and to date, no concrete data had been collected to determine the environmental impact using firewood to heat homes during the winter or regarding the efficiency of the wood-burning systems in homes and outdoor structure. Also, it was not known how much wood fuel and what types were being used by the communities. This new study, however, provides viable and reliable data on the subject.
The recent door-to-door study that surveyed the residents of 405 homes in Aleknagik and Dillingham found that 51 percent of the families that completed the survey used firewood as either a primary or as a secondary source of heat. The study shows that each family uses on average 5.6 cords of wood to heat their homes per year. Residents that have steam baths use them several times per week, and on average use about 350 cords of wood annually in order to keep the steam baths lit. Most residents end up traveling anywhere between five and 10 miles from their homes to harvest their firewood, most of which was reported to be either spruce or birch, with a few families using cottonwood or beech wood to keep their steam baths and smoke houses running.
Melody Nibeck, the Energy Program Manager for the Bristol Bay Native Association, says that the cooperation between these organizations allowed the data from the survey to be obtained and organized in a way that will become essential in further studies.
"The project was a first of its kind for Aleknagik and Dillingham," Nibeck said. "With the hope of more funding, it will not be the last."
The survey questionnaire conducted with household occupants obtained data on basic home information, primary and secondary heating systems, steam baths, smoke houses and wood harvesting practices in relationship to its most practical uses and efficiency.
The results of the survey, which only covered 46 percent of the owner-occupied housing units for both communities, was still able to touch on the methods that residents of Aleknagik and Dillingham use to heat their homes and the data that was collected from the study reveals new information on the sustainability and efficiency of the heating methods for both communities.
Perhaps one of the most interesting findings of the study was in regards to the technology used by the residents of Aleknagik and Dillingham to heat their homes. The majority of the homes that were surveyed were found to be more than 15 years old. The study found that within the residents that were surveyed, 80 percent of Aleknagik and 85 percent of Dillingham locals primarily use stove oil to heat their homes in the winter. The remaining percentage is mostly made up of citizens that use firewood as their primary source of heat. Several homes in Dillingham are heated by hydronic heaters, or outdoor wood boilers, and the use of this technology is found to be on the rise. An interesting finding by the study was the heating systems used by both communities fell into the category of being either more than 15 years old or being relatively new, being within one to five years old. Very few homes were reported to have a heating system in between these two extremes.
This information about the use of technology by residents of Aleknagik and Dillingham to heat their homes opens up a discussion regarding the sustainability of these communities. Nibeck said she believes that looking at the technology used by these communities will hopefully inspire further attention.
"Enough cannot be said about the importance of energy efficiency within the broad context of sustainability however it's defined," Nibeck said. "The survey found a high concentration of older homes in both communities. The age of homes may also translate to the age of other technologies in homes such as insulation, windows, doors, lighting, major and minor appliances, and hot water heating systems. There appears to be a general need to support and educate homeowners more about efficiency, as well as the connection to technology, energy, the environment and potential for cost savings."
Participants in the study offered a range of comments and suggestions about the ongoing struggle to heat their homes, and many expressed concerns over the high prices of the wood and fuel essential to heating their homes, as well as environmental concerns. An issue that was brought to attention by the study was the air quality in the areas where the majority of homes are heated by firewood and hydronic heaters. According to Sue Flensburg, the Environmental Program Manager for the association, it is the hoped that more studies will be done in regards to the air quality of these areas and with time, will provide a baseline for similar methods for the reform of air quality monitoring across the region, as well as being able to provide further education to the residents of these areas regarding sustainability.
"Study findings will be used to assess the feasibility of wood heating system exchange programs, tailor follow-up education and outreach programs, and assist with research needed to determine sustainable biomass harvest levels for Dillingham and Aleknagik," Flensburg said. "Specific data collected through the study is an important initial step for both communities to identify appropriate wood smoke reduction measures."
Based on the results of the survey, recommendations from the association and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium include further assessment into the state of heating technology in residential areas, an exploration of public and private partnerships to support technology change-out programs, and a change in the regulations on emissions from wood-burning stoves, which have not been updated for over a decade. Currently, the State of Alaska has no regulations on the specifications of wood-burning appliances that can be sold in the state. Updating these regulations may help reduce emissions from stoves purchased for use in rural Alaska, especially while considering the rising cost of heating oil and the increasing dependence on firewood as a heating source for the residents of these areas. Along these lines, further research on the net carbon footprint of using wood as a heat source would be able to create future changes in the reduction of gas emissions, which is an area of concern for resident Alaskans, who face more severe implications of climate change due to living in an arctic environment.
While the subject demands more attention, researchers say the data collected by the study sheds new light on issues that had previously remained unaddressed, and will hopefully be the beginning of a series of changes that will create a cheaper, more sustainable way for the residents of Dillingham and Aleknagik to heat their homes during the winter.
This article originally appeared in the Bristol Bay Times and is republished here with permission.