Promoting Utah membership at the Mountain Partnership

John McClure, President of Utah International Mountain Forum ( R ) with Vice President Val Hale ( C ) and assistant to the Vice President Lindzey Evans ( L )

On February 8, 2012 John McClure, President of Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF) and Dr. Baktybek Abdrisaev, Advisor of UVU Foreign Affairs   met with Vice President Val Hale. He is the VP for University relations, as well as the Utah Valley University Liaison to the Utah state legislature. The purpose of holding the meeting was to ask for his cooperation in getting the attention of Utah State Senators to agree to pass the Joint Senate Resolution 019. Draft of the Resolution was already co-sponsored by Utah State Senator John Valentine, who is famous by his support during long time to the building closer ties between state of Utah and mountain communities in Central Asia. The purpose of this resolution is to make Utah a member of the Mountain Partnership, voluntary coalition of global institutions, interested in promoting sustainable way of life for mountain communities.

Melanie Woodbury, UVU student ( L ) with Vice President Val Hale ( R ) during the meeting

To illustrate the importance of Utah’s membership with the Mountain Partnership, Vice President Val Hale had been given a synopsis of why joining the Mountain Partnership is important for Utah as well as the benefits of joining. Such benefits include increasing in our region’s knowledge base which includes water and resource management, tourism, and sanitation; increased academic and financial opportunity for Utah’s higher education, and no fiscal obligations.

Melanie Woodbury, UVU student