GALENA, Alaska (AP) — In rural central Alaska, a village is in the midst of a clean energy transformation that locals say will boost savings, build resilience and provide jobs. Galena wants to curb its reliance on expensive, imported diesel that when burned is one of the largest contributors of planet-warming emissions. Nearly 10 years ago, the village started harvesting trees to fuel a biomass plant to heat its bustling boarding school, offsetting about 100,000 gallons (about 380,000 liters) of diesel annually. The local Louden Tribe is encouraging people to collect floating logs from the Yukon River that can be used for firewood and siding for the sustainable homes they’re building for members. And soon a 1.5-megawatt solar farm will allow the city to turn off its diesel engines and run on 100% clean, renewable energy on sunny summer days, with excess power stored in a battery for later use. That will save another 100,000 gallons annually. The Associated Press talked to residents about their village’s sustainable and renewable energy projects. Here are some of their reflections: Tim Kalke, 46, general manager at Sustainable Energy for Galena Alaska “We’re just ensuring that our critical infrastructure has redundancy and protection built into it, so that every time there’s a power outage, it doesn’t turn into tens of thousands of dollars in repairs in its wake.” Jade Thurmond, 20, a Galena resident working on the solar farm “I’m really excited for when we are using it and how we’ll reduce our diesel usage. I think that would be pretty fun to see and to hear about in the future, and see what comes along.” Jake Pogrebinsky, 54, a sawmill operator for Louden Tribe and driftwood collector “Instead of having to make money to pay for barge freight or to buy materials, you are spending your time out on the river. For a young person, as a lesson, as a skill-building activity, it cannot possibly be compared to.” Brad Scotton, 54, a Galena city council member “What (the biomass plant) has done is stabilize (costs), and it’s created a local workforce and a job base that we never used to have. So it’s keeping the money that used to go outside within the community and providing pretty meaningful jobs for people.” Will Kramer, 29, an applied mechanics instructor at Galena Interior Learning Academy “We are just at the whim of whatever somebody else that wants to make all the money off of us is saying and doing. And being able to install and integrate these systems in these communities, it kind of gives the freedom back to the communities.” Phil Koontz, 74 , a retired environmental engineer for the Louden Tribe “It would be very hard to live here without outside resources. I see fuel as probably the main outside resource that we use. It provides most of the electricity, it provides most of the transportation, it provides most of the heat. I don’t know what we’re going to do without those things. One of the solutions I see is efficiency, reducing the need for energy to produce the same result, better insulated houses, better vehicles, better energy sources.” Aaren Sommer, 19, a Galena resident helping install the solar array The array is “going to reduce the diesel usage a whole bunch over at the power plant, which is going to help us out.” ___ Pineda reported from Los Angeles. ___ The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

By BLM Alaska Fire Service on June 27, 2025

Toward the end of last July, Reuben Seidl and his wife, Liz, noticed that their 2-year-old son Caleb wasn’t quite himself.

He was suffering from chronic fevers and fatigue, so they decided to take him to a medical provider to be evaluated. After getting some labs done, they received the news no parent ever wants to hear.

“We ended up being asked to go to the (emergency room) and he was diagnosed with leukemia a couple of days later,” Seidl said.

Caleb’s specific diagnosis is acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and his dad said that he has been “a trooper through the whole thing.”

Following the initial diagnosis, they spent 33 days in the hospital with their son. Now 3 years old, Caleb is almost at the tail end of the intensive part of his treatment, which is taking a full year, then he has to undergo 18 or so months of additional treatment. His current prognosis is “really great,” Seidl said.

Caleb’s current treatment plan has included visits to the hospital three or four times a week and getting different forms of chemotherapy and medication.

With his form of cancer and treatment plan, Caleb’s social interaction with others is limited — which is why when the opportunity to partner with the Make-A-Wish Foundation came up, the family welcomed the opportunity to uplift his spirits in whatever way they feasibly could, from a health standpoint.

“Make-A-Wish is a fantastic organization, and Caleb qualified for Make-A-Wish and they told us his wish is granted,” Seidl said. “Two of their ambassadors (in Alaska) came to our house and tried to see what a 3-year-old would really wish for because it’s really important that he gets something that he wants.”

Since his son has always loved hockey and the Seattle Kraken are his favorite team, they ultimately decided to partner with the team. The Kraken just so happened to be planning to come to Alaska for the annual Kraken Week youth hockey camp.

Caleb was the honored guest at a meet-and-greet with team officials Thursday morning at the Fly Trampoline Park in Anchorage. He was able to meet and play with Kraken forward John Hayden and team mascot Buoy.

“The timing worked out, they showed up and they’re going to host him at a game and let us do a lot of fun things down in Seattle next season,” Seidl said.

Caleb’s full wish will be granted when he and his family travel down to meet the whole team and tour Climate Pledge Arena this fall during the regular season.

Reuben and his son are regulars at Anchorage Wolverines home games — at least through the second period before it gets too close to Caleb’s bedtime. The only professional hockey game Reuben has ever attended in person was a matchup between the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche back in 2010. For his next pro hockey experience to be his son’s first makes it all the more special.

“It’s going to be awesome and I am so stoked,” Seidl said. “The Kraken is a great organization, the new stadium that they built is absolutely wild and I’m pumped to see it in person.”

Their family feels fortunate that Caleb has been able to get all the care and treatment he needs within Alaska instead of having to travel out of state, as some parents and families have needed to do.

“We were very lucky with that and were able to get some top-tier new immunotherapy for him that just got passed and out of the clinical trial stage for him a month before he was diagnosed,” Seidl said.

Caleb’s resiliency through this adversity at such a young age has been inspiring to those around him.

“He is the most resilient and happy kid with everything that’s going on,” Seidl said. “He doesn’t want to go and get all these treatments and all these shots and pokes, but he makes the best of it. We play at the places, say ‘hi’ to all the nurses and brighten up their day.”

Inspiring the next wave of Alaska players

This trip marked the first to Alaska for Hayden, who has thoroughly enjoyed himself so far.

“It’s awesome (and offers) a little bit of everything,” he said. “Meeting Caleb today, going to a hockey camp, and yesterday we were on a fishing trip, so it’s been great.”

Coming to Alaska in itself was a treat, but being able to do so for reasons like making a 3-year-old fan’s dream come true and giving back to the next generation of youth hockey players made it even more special and meaningful.

“It’s amazing and very inspiring to see Caleb’s demeanor,” Hayden said. “He’s been through a lot at a young age but all he does is smile and have a good time, so it’s really good perspective to be here and it’s special to be a part of it.”

Growing up in Denver, Hayden recalled attending hockey camps as a youth, skating with college and professional players from that area and how it “definitely had a big impact” on him. He hopes his presence will have a similar effect on the kids he interacted with during Thursday’s camp at Dempsey-Anderson Ice Arena.

“If we can help push and inspire the next wave of Alaskan hockey players, it’d be great, so (I’m) just here to encourage them, have some fun and be out there on the ice with them,” Hayden said.

Blake Kullberg will be a freshman next fall at Grace Christian School and was the youngest coach in the camp.

Getting the chance to share the same sheet of ice as Hayden was a great experience for coaches and campers alike.

“Honestly, if I had this experience as a little kid, I would’ve absolutely lost my mind,” Kullberg said. “I would’ve been up all night and wouldn’t have been able to sleep. Just being on the ice with someone who is at that level of the game is probably so cool for these kids.”

Kullberg opted to assist with the campers instead of being one himself all week despite his dad being the director of Anchorage Hockey Academy. Kullberg said he wanted to have fun with and help develop the younger kids, like his little sister, who was a camper.

She is a big fan of Buoy but was scared of the Kraken sea troll mascot initially when he first got on the ice. She warmed up to him after some encouragement from her big brother and other camp coaches.

Buoy sat down with ADN for an interview, but since he only speaks troll via nose squeaks, Hailey Robinson — an entertainment assistant with the Kraken — served as his official translator.

“Buoy absolutely adores getting out in the community and getting to see the fans,” Robinson said.

Robinson asked Buoy if his favorite thing about working with the Kraken is the number of kids he gets to bring joy to with his appearances. He nodded in approval.

“Especially something like this where (Caleb’s) life isn’t super fun when he’s in treatment, but for a day like today, we get to bring a lot of joy and that’s what Buoy is best at,” Robinson said.

The final event of Kraken Week will be a community skate at the Ice Chalet at Destination Dimond, inside the Dimond Center at 800 E. Dimond Blvd., from 3-7 p.m. Friday.