Gainesville School District included in the group.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service’s State & Private Forestry program, awarded almost $6 million in grants to six public schools for Fuels for Schools projects. The grants were funded through The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Fuels for Schools grant funds helped these school districts install a boiler system that uses wood biomass from local public and private forest land to heat their facilities.
Grant amounts awarded to the schools are:
Gainesville R-V School District (Ozark County): $970,000;
Mountain View-Birch Tree Liberty High School (Howell County): $850,000;
Eminence R-I Elementary School (Shannon County): $350,000;
Southern Reynolds R-II School District (Reynolds County): $970,000;
Steelville R-III School District (Crawford County): $900,000;
Perry County 32 School District (Perry County): $970,000;
MDC Forest Management Chief, John Tuttle said the MDC is pleased to see construction completed.
“As these schools operate their boiler systems, they’ll use woody biomass from local and private forest land to heat and cool their facilities, we’ll see the new technology help reduce dependence on fossil fuels, reduce energy costs, create or retain jobs and support healthy forests and the state’s forest industry,” Tuttle said.
Tuttle said the Fuels for Schools projects will help create a stronger market for woody material historically considered waste, such as unhealthy or small-diameter trees and wood debris left from logging, which currently have little or no commercial value.
Tuttle explained that the projects support forest health, a key part of the MDC’s mission, by making it economical to thin overcrowded forest stands and remove diseased and insect-infested trees.
The ribbon cutting ceremony, which will conclude the project for the Gainesville R-V School District, will be held Monday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. in Gainesville.
According to Fuels for Schools, http://missourifuelsforschools.totorcd.org “In general, fuel cost savings for projects that have replaced natural gas boiler systems have averaged at 25% while facilities replacing fuel oil systems have enjoyed savings of 50-75%.”
For more information on the Missouri Fuels for Schools, go to, http://missourifuelsforschools.totorcd.org or contact Peter Maki, Coordinator, Missouri Fuels for Schools Project, 417-967-0676, or email to: petermaki@totorcd.org.
