Statement by Will Rogers, Trust for Public Land...
"Show me a healthy community with a healthy economy and I will show you a community that has its green infrastructure in order and understands the relationship between the built and the unbuilt environment."
WHAT WE DO: The Green Infrastructure Group (GIG) works to RENEW a cleaner and healthier watershed by making green infrastructure a common practice for home and business owners. Through community support and involvement, the GIG promotes sustainable use of our natural environment for the benefit of present and future generations.
WHO WE ARE: The GIG is composed of a diverse group of partners that share a common goal of a healthy watershed. The GIG supports many micro scale green infrastructure projects because they serve as examples of how small projects are important to bigger planning goals for the community. As a group, the GIG can share costs and resources, and more effectively implement projects.
“Savvy states and communities are starting to think about green space in a more thoughtful and systematic way. They realize that green infrastructure is not a frill—it is smart conservation for the twenty-first century. ”
Our Goals
1. Increase public understanding by promoting existing Fairbanks GI projects through our map and scheduled tours. Seeing on the ground projects helps the general public visualize how each GI project functions.
2. Continue to provide on the ground demonstrations/ workshops to the public on how to implement GI projects of their own.
3. Produce do-it-yourself green infrastructure videos and post to YouTube.
4. Maintain an online identity and provide the public with a clearing house of all things GI within the FNSB.
5. Install educational signs along the rivers.
6. Publish a local GI book for the Chena River, titled “Living Rivers,” and a resource guide.
7. Update the Fairbanks project guide and Do-It-Yourself Fact sheets.
History of the Fairbanks Group:
The push for green infrastructure in Fairbanks started around 2010 with Fairbanks’ municipal storm water permit. Our original permit (collectively held by the City of Fairbanks, City of North Pole, UAF, and DOT) was issued in 2005 did not have any green infrastructure requirements; however, the permit was set to expire in 2010, and we understood when the permit was renewed there would be new requirements for Fairbanks to develop and implement a local green infrastructure program. So, the City got on the bandwagon early and started developing a resource guide for homeowners with funding from DNR and in partnership with Fairbanks’ Cold Climate Housing Research Center, Fairbanks Soil & Water Conservation District (FSWCD), and GeoWatersheds Scientific. In addition to publishing the guide, the City also started a homeowner reimbursement program (similar to Anchorage’s rain garden reimbursement program) for installing green infrastructure applications on their properties. This reimbursement program was later taken over by FSWCD with annual funding from the USFWS. And, both the FSWCD and Tanana Valley Watershed Association (TVWA) started conducting demonstrations on how to install rain barrels, infiltration planters, and other green infrastructure applications at local events and home improvement stores. It came together into a single working group. Now we meet every other month and coordinate funding and construction of green infrastructure projects (public and private) and dissemination of information and materials to residents.