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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has called a public hearing of the North Dakota Natural Areas Acquisition Advisory Committee to consider a proposal by Ducks Unlimited to buy a 160-acre site, known as “the Reed property,” in Grand Forks County.

The hearing will be held at 1 p.m., Monday, Sept. 8, in in the Thompson Community Center, 306 Pacific Avenue Thompson.

The Reed property is located four miles north and two miles west of Thompson. The owner is Karen Reed, California.

DU has also accepted mitigation responsibility for 17.27 acres of impacts associated with the ring dike around Oxbow, Hickson and Bakke, as part of the Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Project.

Oral and written testimony will be accepted at the hearing. Persons with disabilities who wish to testify and who require special facilities, assistance or aids, such as readers or signers, should contact the North Dakota Department of Agriculture at (701) 328-2231 by Sept. 5.

Written testimony may be submitted to Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, 600 E. Boulevard Ave., Dept. 602, Bismarck, ND 58505-0020; fax: (701) 328-4567; e-mail baasmundstad@nd.gov by noon, Sept. 15.

The committee will meet at a later date by conference call to vote on whether to recommend that the acquisition request be approved or denied. The recommendation will be forwarded to Gov. Jack Dalrymple who will decide if the acquisition can proceed.