Award Winning Extreme Makeover on the Chippewa NF

The Chippewa's Deer River Ranger District receives Deputy Chief's Business Operations Award and White House Award.

The Chippewa National Forest's Deer River Ranger District recently received the White House award signed by President Obama and well as the Deputy Chief's Business Operations Award for Sustainable Operations The district received the honors for their "Extreme Makeover".

In 2008 the Deer River Ranger District on the Chippewa National Forest (Minnesota) in Region 9 underwent an Extreme Makeover to help reduce its environmental footprint.

For Earth Day 2009, the Extreme Makeover Ranger District Edition DVD was sent to every district office, supervisor's office, regional office, research station, and Washington office unit across the agency.

Patterned after the popular Extreme Makeover television program, the documentary portrays an answer to the question of how the Forest Service can connect the benefits of land stewardship practices to reducing resource consumption.

It all began when Anna Jones Crabtree, sustainable operations coordinator for Regions 1 and 2, pitched the extreme makeover idea during a presentation and Deer River District Ranger Joe Alexander raised his hand.

After deciding to take the district's environmental footprint seriously, Alexander and his team of enthusiastic employees went after the sustainable operations project with a vengeance.

A film crew and staff from the Northern and Rocky Mountain regions filmed the documentary that incorporates real-world change efforts and a little bit of humor to encourage and motivate other districts to consider their environmental footprint and take action to reduce it.

The makeover began with an assessment of several areas in the district's effort to reduce its carbon footprint.

By reducing the district fleet by six vehicles, trading in an SUV for a car, and switching some four-wheel-drive vehicles down to two-wheel-drive vehicles, the district will save $13,000 a year in fleet costs and another $10,000 in fuel costs. Before the makeover, the district spent $80,000 last year alone in fuel, getting less than 10.3 miles to the gallon as an average.

Simple things such as putting the office Pepsi machine on a timer so it is only on during office hours and changing all office computers to print duplex save the district additional cash.

Replacing an inefficient furnace meant going from 60 percent to over 95 percent efficiency with a savings of about $4,600 a year at current natural gas prices.

The district replaced all of the toilets with low-flow toilets both in the office and at the bunkhouse, saving 73,000 gallons of water and $600 per year.

Changing 346 fluorescent light bulbs to more energy efficient T-8 bulbs will prevent 36.4 tons of carbon from being put into the atmosphere by power plants, and when combined with sensors, saves around $3,000 per year.

The district added recycled office supplies to the workplace to further reduce its carbon footprint.

Ultimately, the changes will save the district approximately $32,000 annually, not to mention the considerable benefits to the environment.

Alexander noted there were lots of challenges along the way, but sees the focus on sustainable operations as a cultural shift--a real institutional change for the district and for the agency.

"Acting on existing opportunities that reduce a district's environmental footprint can have a tremendous effect if replicated across the agency," Alexander said.

For Alexander and his team, the focus on sustainability has expanded beyond the office to connecting with Grand Rapids High School. The district and high school have collaborated to increase students' awareness of wise use of resources, a vital step in helping the next generation understand the need to care for the land. "Our joint tree planting and community cleanup operations have been worthwhile and motivational," said Alexander.

--Written By Gwen Ernst-Ulrich, Rocky Mountain Region