The Mat-Su Borough Assembly just accepted $2.5 million from the Legislature, a major infusion of money intended to boost Cook Inlet salmon numbers.
The breakdown, at least for now, is $1.6 million for research and $900,000 for culvert fixes.
Seems like a win for a place where recreational fishing on world-class rivers in the Susitna system dropped by half over the last six years due to salmon declines and the closures that came with them.
Borough officials say more data on Mat-Su salmon could prompt changes to Cook Inlet net fisheries thought to intercept Mat-Su fish on their way north.
But a sudden skirmish over how to spend the money has briefly sent borough officials back to the drawing board.
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