20 years ago

The Kenai Peninsula Borough continued work on a $2 million fire mitigation program, FireWise, to address damage from trees killed by spruce-bark beetles. The FireWise program helped private property owners remove hazardous trees around their homes and take measures to reduce fire danger.

The borough also paid private contractors to remove trees from borough land. The borough surveyed rights-of-way in areas off East End Road, Hutler Road, Greer Road, Kilcher Road, Waters Road and Mansfield Road. The goal was to remove brush within 12 feet of rights of way and any hazardous trees. Logging on borough land kept a 300-foot buffer around streams and rivers.

The U.S. Congress also appropriated $240 million through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for fire danger mitigation in 30 states, including parts of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.

— From the issue of Feb. 8, 2001

30 years ago

Recycling in Homer was so successful that it was expanded to Anchor Point, Kenai, Nikiski and Seward. The Kenai Peninsula Borough set up recycling bins at Eagle Quality Center (now Safeway) for glass, aluminum, cardboard, paper and newsprint. Anchor Point had two similar bins next to the Anchor River Inn.

In Homer, an engine oil recycling program also was set up for non-commercial amounts of engine oil. However, the oil could not include bilge water. The borough also set up a battery recycling program. Those were shipped to Asia at no cost to the borough.

Recycling brought in about $2,000, but that’s less than the cost for borough officials to run the program. The savings came in the longterm in that recycled materials don’t go into the landfill.

— From the issue of Feb. 7, 1991

50 years ago

The issue of Jan. 28, 1971, is missing from the Homer News archives.