Glacier Bay National Park

The fifth Climate Friendly Parks workshop was held at Glacier Bay National Park in October 2005. Melting ice is transforming the glacier-filled valleys of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve into fjords. As scientists are learning how to use indicators of global change, such as glacier variation, to protect finite resources, park employees and concessioners are working hard to reduce human impacts on the sensitive Glacier Bay environment. The park has taken steps such as installing data loggers to collect peak load data at the park's power generating plant, evaluating new power generators to replace obsolete units, servicing the park's solid waste incinerator for optimum performance, and replacing old boilers with more energy efficient models. The park is currently evaluating biodiesel use in generators while the park remains on a list of buyers in need of a biodiesel fuel supplier. In 2005 the park collected and handled 20 tons of solid waste (recycling 41 percent) compared with 32 tons (35 percent recycled) in 2004.

The Glacier Bay Criteria Air Pollutant (CAP) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory was developed to provide an understanding of park emission sources and a baseline by which future emission reductions can be measured. The Glacier Bay Climate Action Plan includes this inventory and identifies the strategies the park intends to implement in order to achieve these reductions.