The research station is one of 10 nationwide that are closing because of a roughly $40 million cut to the Agricultural Research Service. That means a newly built $1.2 million greenhouse and research complex in Fairbanks will be closed.
The budget cuts also mean that all work under way at the Subarctic Agricultural Research Station in Alaska, including projects in Fairbanks, Palmer and Kodiak, will end this spring.
Carol Lewis, dean of the University of Alaska Fairbanks' School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Science, says the Subarctic ARS station specialized in agricultural pest management.
The Palmer station focuses on collecting northern plant samples, while the Kodiak office has studied techniques for using fish waste for agriculture.
