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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The state of Utah wants to swap leases with a minerals company along the shore of the Great Salt Lake in an effort to protect wildlife.
In a proposed deal announced Tuesday, Great Salt Lake Minerals Corp. would relinquish leases on more than 30,000 acres around Promontory Point in exchange for 37,000 acres on sections of the lake's northwest arm.
State officials say the 30,000 acres would then be off-limits to future leasing to benefit birds and other wildlife in the area.
The company would use its leases on the northwest arm for solar evaporation ponds, which are used to extract salt from the lake. The process is part of the company's production of sulfate of potash, a specialty fertilizer.
The company currently has about 43,000 acres of solar evaporation ponds along the lake.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
