State of Alaska photo

Lime Village's population dropped from 49 residents in 2001 to just 15 in 2008.

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Life is better in Lime Village since the construction of a power plant and washeteria in the late 1990s and early 2000s, says tribal administrator Ursula Graham. Back then about 50 people called the tiny community along the Stony River in Western Alaska home. But in the past decade, the town has shrunk in half, and with 2010 fast approaching, improvements made to the quality of life along the way are coming at a cost villagers are finding hard to keep up with.

Like many of Alaska's smaller communities, Lime Village purchases small batches of fuel throughout the year, rather than relying on bulk shipments. The community sits in the western foothills of the Alaska Range -- the second-smallest in the Bethel region, one of the most economically depressed parts of the state, where jobs are scarce, the cost of living is high, and many families and children live in poverty.

Although it hadn't previously made the state's list of communities in jeopardy of a fuel crisis this winter, Lime Village is now on the watch list after state officials learned it's short on funds to purchase its next fuel delivery. Without additional shipments, the village will run out of heating fuel in less than two months. This at a time of a year when temperatures plummet as much as minus 47, the snow piling up over six feet.

For state officials keeping watch on the situation, Lime Village gets to the heart of a question Alaskans are struggling to answer. "If residents are unwilling or unable to pay for a service, what should happen?" asks Scott Ruby, deputy director for the Alaska Department of Regional and Community Affairs. "The bottom line is they need to look at what services are offered, and given their population and economics of the community, what services are viable."

Unlike the region's other small communities, Lime Village sits inland, with red, blue and green houses dotting the banks of the Stony River. Fifty miles from the Kuskokwim River system and far from the coast, it is inaccessible by barge, so already costly fuel deliveries are made even more expensive when flown in by airplanes. The most recent fuel shipment cost the village $6 a gallon.

After some rural villages in Western Alaska found themselves struggling to heat their homes and feed their families last winter -- a crisis for some communities that resulted in state-assisted food drops -- the state took a more active role in monitoring the needs of its poorest and most remote citizens. It tracked fuel orders and deliveries by community, reviewed payment options, helped with loan applications, and worked to get people registered for housing and food assistance, all with the goal of averting a repeat of last year.

If a life-threatening crisis were to unfold in a remote community like Lime Village this winter, the state has the power to ensure residents are evacuated to a safe, warm location with food and adequate shelter. But failing to prepare for the foreseeable -- lack of money, lack of supplies -- limits how much aid the state can offer. A strong winter windstorm knocking out power, for instance, is a much different event than a power plant made inoperative because the community can't come up with the funds to buy fuel.

In the case of Lime Village, the state is helping the community apply for a loan to pay for bulk fuel shipments. If that fails, an emergency loan may be available through another state program.

But the problem runs deeper. The community must still support the cost of electricity and fuel through its residents, and it's having trouble keeping up since its biggest customer closed its doors. In 2007, when Lime Village's student body fell under 10 children, the community -- already so tiny itself it could fit into a single classroom in large districts -- lost its school, a handful of jobs, and a few families.