Thank you to the Homer Foundation for the Peatland Project

The community of Homer owes a debt of gratitude to the Homer Foundation for their long-standing support of the Homer Drawdown Peatland Project. The project was a community-driven campaign to protect and educate about peatlands for their incredible role in carbon sequestration, biodiversity, groundwater storage, and climate stability. Though peatlands only cover 3% of Earth’s surface, they store more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem — twice that of all the world’s forests combined!

Recognizing that many peatlands are present in the Homer area and are under-protected, Homer-area participants democratically selected this landscape-centered project to illuminate the critical role of peatlands, wetlands, and soil carbon to the climate challenge that we are responsible for addressing in the next decade.

With over 350 participants, the Peatland Project harnessed the expertise of over a dozen local nonprofit entities and thousands of volunteer hours (yes, thousands) to implement a diverse and interdisciplinary approach to local climate action. The project encompassed community science surveying and mapping, public events, artist opportunities, land management negotiations, fundraising for peatland protection and stewardship, and a youth engagement and education. This flurry of activity has raised the value of peatlands for many local people.

Most recently, the project focused on integrating this grassroots effort into programs at the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, the City of Homer, and the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to ensure the long-term life of the project through curricula, Green Infrastructure Projects, and community science peatland monitoring protocols. The peatlands support all of us. Thank you for helping us support and celebrate them.

Roberta Highland

President, Kachemak Bay Conservation Society

Limits should be up to voters

Help put campaign money limits on the ballot.

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Paul Seaton

Homer