FARMINGTON -- The Utah Transit Authority is saying goodbye to a large chunk of land it owns in west Farmington.
UTA will transfer a 60-acre parcel of land in Farmington to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources as part of an agreement between the transit agency, the UDWR and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The agreement called for the transit agency to mitigate the impacts associated with the FrontRunner North project, which opened in April 2008.
UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said the wetlands mitigation effort was required to get the necessary permits to build FrontRunner.
The piece of land, which is located at approximately Glover's Lane and 325 West in Farmington, was purchased by UTA for $2.26 million in late 2005.
Since UTA purchased the land, the UDWR has been providing maintenance for it, making it a thriving wetland habitat for birds and other species.
Rich Hansen, UDWR wildlife biologist and manager of the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, said the area also provides a nice buffer to adjacent wetlands areas, guarding against any future development.
Hansen said that since the 2005 deal, his team has been doing things like removing noxious weeds and managing water flow to the area.
"Not much will change at all from our perspective," Hansen said of the land transfer. "We've been managing it for a few years now, so we'll just keep doing what we've been doing."
The land transfer will likely be approved at UTA's November board meeting.
UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said the agency has also made some wetland mitigation efforts at Ogden Bay associated with the FrontRunner project.
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