Mat-Su: It’s living!

To the editor:

What is really missing from a discussion of “Open for Business! Jobs Now!” vs. “Preserve Our Lifestyle” is state economist Neal Fried’s report that the Mat-Su Borough’s largest export is our workforce.

About 45 percent of us work outside the borough. For 31 percent of us, that’s an average of 12 to 15 hours a week commuting to and from Anchorage. The other 14 percent of us travel to other parts of the state, resulting in even longer hours spent away from home, family and the lifestyle that we who work here enjoy. These figures have not changed much over the past 10 years.

Our cities’ and borough’s leadership is composed of people who predominantly live and work here. They are among the 55 percent of us who are lucky enough to be able to do so. Considering what they’ve actually done to encourage, implement and authorize what are generally lifestyle issues should cause one to conclude that they are committed to maintaining the lifestyle we enjoy.

The Hatcher Pass Nordic ski trailhead was opened last winter. Plans are being made for extensive enhancements to Matanuska River Park. The borough continues to work on identification, registration and maintenance of Mat-Su Borough trail systems. The Jim Creek Recreational Area was extensively debated, deliberated, restricted and defined. Then there’s Wasilla’s new ownership, upgrade and maintenance of Lake Lucille Park. The borough is researching and making recommendations for rebuilding our fisheries, which is both an economic and lifestyle concern. With that in mind, let us not forget the assembly’s most recent effort to keep the Independence Mine open by cooperating with the state and employing folks to work there.

I’m sure many of you could add to this list of enhancements funded and encouraged by our leadership and enjoyed by most of us. The assembly and other community leadership bodies in our borough are demonstrably dedicated to preserving and enhancing our lifestyle choices — the most important of which, to many of us, is the ability to live and work in the Mat-Su Borough.

Beth Fread

Palmer