House Speaker Mike Chenault said he could justify Senate Bill 21 — a North Slope oil tax overhaul recently approved by state lawmakers — by referencing just one slide he saw while working in Juneau this legislative session.

That slide showed that Alaska was the only oil-producing state during the last few years that had declining levels of oil production.

Before voting on a proposed ordinance filled with recommended changes targeted at the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s anadromous habitat protection code, members of the task force charged with mulling that code and an ordinance expanding it spoke about the issue.

After a four-and-a-half hour Monday night meeting, the Anadromous Fish Habitat Protection Task Force approved, 5-3, its main proposal. Many of the members said they had strong feelings on how they voted.

While state lawmakers have been mulling changes to Alaska’s oil tax system on the North Slope for the last several years, interest, exploration and production has been increasing in Cook Inlet.

Area lawmakers and industry representatives point to five specific tax credits and incentives on the books that have led to such activity. And, while credits for oil exploration have recently come under a statewide microscope, those who praise the Cook Inlet’s credits agree — if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Kenai Peninsula motorists will be greeted this summer with numerous traffic and road improvement projects, as crews under contract with the Alaska Department of Transportation will be working in various locations.

In all, crews will work on about 11 projects of various sizes on the Seward, Sterling and Kenai Spur highways as well as Kalifornsky Beach Road, said Tom Dougherty, construction crew chief for DOT’s central region.