Mat-Su kept the Long Trail sign, and the $300,000 that came with it

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly accepted a $300,000 grant for Matanuska River Park this week and left in place the part some members had spent weeks objecting to: $100,000 for a sign identifying the park as a gateway to the Alaska Long Trail.

Assembly Member Michael Bowles had two amendments ready to strip the sign out, and had said he would rather lose the grant than accept it, on the grounds that the Long Trail is a step toward federal designation and federal control. He withdrew both. The measure passed without objection.

The objection is specific. "What we oppose is designating it a National Scenic Trail, which brings federal regulations," Assembly Member Bill Gamble said. The borough's own attorney told the assembly that the federal government cannot impose trail management rules on borough land unless the borough accepts federal money with conditions attached.

The Alaska Long Trail is a roughly 500-mile route from Seward to Fairbanks. Only Congress can designate a National Scenic Trail, and the Bureau of Land Management has said such a designation does not change who owns the land a trail crosses.

The grant, from the Rasmuson Foundation, was announced in June for playground and utility work at the campgrounds. The borough is putting $200,000 toward campground water and $100,000 toward the sign, on top of $250,000 already set aside for electrical upgrades starting this fall.

A resident, Lisa Agnew, asked the assembly to keep the campground money and drop the sign, saying the paperwork does not match: the foundation's website describes a playground, utilities and signage, while the grant agreement in the assembly's own packet mentions "no playground, no sign." She counted four documents that disagree, said she would rather the $100,000 go to a playground, and asked whether members knew the borough director who brought the appropriation forward had been the founding executive director of Alaska Trails, which advocates for the designation the assembly is worried about.

The borough manager said staff asked the foundation whether the sign could simply be dropped. They were told the grant stands as applied for and approved. The sign itself is still an artist's rendering.