Palmer woman to lead preservation group

WASILLA — Monica Gilpin loves to take a project in the early stages and see it through.

After working in the business side of residential and commercial construction for about 15 years, Gilpin has found her next project. The 48-year-old Mat-Su Valley woman was recently named executive director of Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats, and aims to help the local nonprofit realize its goal of providing a nature and science center for the community.

“It’s great to be a part of the project and see it come to fruition,” Gilpin said Thursday.

Gilpin said she enjoys being a part of the planning process, seeing something on paper and making it more than just a blueprint.

“The building is just exciting,” Gilpin said. “It’s exciting to be a part of. There’s such a sense of satisfaction.”

With a love of taking a task at the ground level, Gilpin seems ideal for the role, from which she will help make the organization’s ambitious endeavor a reality.

“She’s very forward thinking and very excited about the future of this refuge,” said Kris Abshire, Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats Board of Directors president.

The future of the refuge, which the 6-year-old nonprofit has worked tirelessly to preserve, includes the community nature and science center. Abshire said the facility is central to the organization’s mission, and Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats hopes to provide that resource for local residents within the next two to three years.

“We’re very excited about that, and so is Monica,” Abshire said.

The facility would provide a gathering center for the community and an education center for local students. Right now, Abshire said, students have to be bused to similar facilities in Eagle River or Anchorage. Fairbanks, Juneau, Kodiak and Homer all have nature centers. But not the Mat-Su Valley.

Abshire said it’s time for that to change, and Mat-Su residents have the perfect spot for such a facility, right in their own back yard, right in the refuge.

Considering the rapid growth in Mat-Su, Gilpin said it is even more important to treasure the refuge.

“We’re going into the next phase. The organization has gone through a tremendous cleanup of the refuge,” Gilpin said. “Just to have so much land right in the heart of the Valley for anyone in the community to have access to is just wonderful.”

Gilpin said she is excited to be a part of the process of bringing the center to the Valley. She’s eager to incorporate the needs of all of the refuge’s user groups into the future of the hay flats.

Gilpin has lived in the Valley since 1990 and has raised her two children here. Gilpin is an avid hiker and cross country skier, and said she enjoys taking in the scenic beauty the Valley has to offer.

Now as executive director of the organization, Gilpin has her own role in the preservation of some of that beauty.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.