12. Park's Conservation Memorandum Account Settlement

DRA and Park propose the establishment of a conservation memorandum account for Park. The settlement is unopposed.

Park currently is authorized $21,584 annually for conservation expenses and $10,000 annually for expenses for joining CUWCC. Park, as a signatory to CUWCC's memorandum of understanding, will follow CUWCC guidelines, establish programs consistent with and based on the best management practices (BMP) determined to be cost-effective. DRA supports the establishment of a conservation memorandum account for Park in order to permit Park immediately to develop conservation measures consistent with the BMPs and a robust conservation program. The existing allowance will be insufficient to accomplish those goals. The proposed conservation memorandum account has a recoverable aggregate cap limitation of $200,000 and will only track costs until December 31, 2009. The settlement does not address issues related to appropriate levels of spending, types of programs, and the future of memorandum accounts for conservation expenses, so the parties can take any position on those issues.

The settlement promotes our conservation objectives, is reasonable based on the record and is consistent with the law. Thus, we find the settlement in the public interest and adopt it.