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MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 22, 2010

CONTACT: Diane Simmons, Public Information Officer
Phone: 801-524-3160

SUBJECT: Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission Meeting

Salt Lake City, UT - The Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, June 29 at 10 a.m. in the Commission office conference room at 230 South 500 East, Suite 230.

Only one agenda item is proposed for Commission action at the meeting: modification of an agreement with Brigham Young University to continue support of sage grouse conservation efforts in and near Strawberry Valley, Utah.

The Strawberry Valley Area Assessment, November 1997, which was developed by the Mitigation Commission and Heber Ranger District of the Uinta National Forest, found Strawberry Valley sage grouse to be risk. Based on this, and because enlargement of Strawberry Reservoir, as part of the Central Utah Project, inundated four out of five historic sage grouse leks (displaying and breeding areas), the Commission funded a study to identify additional causes for the sage grouse decline and is supporting related sage grouse conservation and recovery efforts.

The next public Mitigation Commission meeting will be scheduled in August 2010.

The Mitigation Commission is an independent Federal agency established by the Central Utah Project Completion Act of 1992. The Commission is responsible for planning, funding, and implementing projects that benefit fish, wildlife, and related recreation resources in order to offset impacts caused by the Central Utah Project, and other Federal water reclamation projects in Utah. The Commission meets publicly to consider and act on agreements to carry out mitigation projects with various partners, including State and Federal natural resource agencies and non-profit groups.

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