Locals tired of hearing fish story

Frontiersman

WASILLA — A state natural gas pipeline, salmon fisheries, road funding and a list of personal grievances all received an audience Saturday at a town hall meeting of state Sens. Lyda Green and Charlie Huggins, both R-Wasilla. The senators, joined by state Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak, fielded questions from a standing-room-only crowd.

A number of folks showed up to express concerns over how few salmon are making it into Mat-Su rivers and streams from Cook Inlet. Andy Couch said the way the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has managed the Mat-Su fisheries has been “very detrimental” to the area.

“It’s saying we don’t count for anything,” Couch said.

Huggins said that Couch may have actually understated the situation and said the situation needs to be fixed.

“The Department of Fish and Game is out of control when it comes to our fish,” he said.

The most applause of the afternoon came when a disabled veterans’ activist commended the senators and their colleagues in the Legislature saying, “You can’t ask for more cooperation. You can’t ask for more assistance than they’re providing.”

But when the subject of roads came up, Huggins’ response drew some unsolicited comments from the crowd.

“I am always dismayed by how long it takes to do roads,” Huggins said. “I am as frustrated as you are by it.”

“What are you going to do about it?” chimed in an audience member.

“So do it,” said another.

Huggins pointed out that for a lot of projects identified as priorities in the Valley, money has been appropriated and is waiting for the state’s Department of Transportation to start work. As an example, he pointed out the proposed traffic light on the Parks Highway at Vine Road.

“DOT’s position is it takes three years to put a light in,” Huggins said.

About the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, which seeks to kick-start the process of building a natural gas pipeline, Green said she and Huggins had both voted for the bill.

“We were disappointed when only one proposal came through,” she said.

Asked about whether the gas was going to come to Alaskans at a reasonable price, Green said the bill calls for at least five off-take points in the state.

Huggins said the preferred customer for the gas is Alaskans.

Green said she didn’t think TransCanada, the company that submitted the only complete proposal under the act, would end up building the project itself.

“I think eventually it’s going to be a consortium of companies,” Green said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.