California: Rescue Unit Delivers Critical Equipment to Wildlife Refuge

National Guard, Apr 2009 by Teeter, Alyson

The 129th Rescue Wing helped ensure the lights stayed on at the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge, located about 30 miles off the shore of San Francisco in the Pacific Ocean.

Two California Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, aircrews and logistics personnel were part of the operation Feb. 17 and 18 transporting 48 photovoltaic batteries, each weighing 300 pounds, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Photovoltaic batteries collect light energy from the sun and convert it into an electrical current.

The batteries power all of the facilities on the isolated island, including a lighthouse and a workshop, said Mendel Stewart, manager of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

Created in 1909, the refuge protects seabirds and marine mammals. Researchers from a private organization who work with the Fish and Wildlife Service collect mammal data that are part of a 40-year data set.

Island residents once received all of their electricity from diesel generators. Officials realized this wasn't practical or environmentally sound, so in the mid1990s photovoltaic batteries and solar panels were installed as the primary power source.

The original batteries had a shelf life of 10 years and were about to expire.

Securing a private contractor helicopter to swap out the batteries wasn't feasible due to the cost of airlifting such a heavy load, Mr. Stewart said. The island also isn't accessible by boat.

When Maj. Rhys Hunt, 129th Rescue Squadron operations officer, heard about the need for transportation, he pulled together operations and logistics personnel and came up with a plan to transport the new batteries to the Farallon Islands.

-By Capt. Alyson Teeter