SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Gov. Gary Herbert will open his first annual Outdoor Recration Summit on Thursday by signing a long awaited swap of state and federal lands in Grant, San Juan and Uintah Counties.
The deal gives the federal government about 25,000 acres of conversation and recreation lands in exchange for about 35,000 acres of energy-rich land for the state.
Congress authorized the deal in 2009 but it has taken years of negotiations to be finalized.
The signing of the deal will come as government officials and representatives of Utah's booming outdoor industry meet for the daylong summit in Salt Lake City.
They're set to discuss the intersections of public lands policy, business, recreation and tourism.
The summit follows the Republican governor's pledge last year to actively support the state's $5.8 billion outdoors economy.
