Provo mayor, as Utah Lake Authority chair, calls to eliminate carp from Utah Lake by 2034 Olympics

Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi, chair of the Utah Lake Authority board, urged attendees at a Utah Lake event to pursue an ambitious goal: eliminate common carp from Utah Lake in time for the 2034 Olympics.

Kaufusi opened her keynote with a John F. Kennedy anecdote about setting large, public goals, then said the same sense of purpose could marshal partners and funding to restore Utah Lake. "Let's eliminate carp from Utah Lake by the 2034 Olympics," she said, calling the proposal "bold and ambitious" but worth the effort.

Kaufusi described carp as "the single greatest threat to positive resident perception and experience at the lake" and detailed ecological harms: carp "turn up the lake bottom like rototillers, gobbling the native vegetation, clouding the water, and holding native plants and fish back." She said "decades of work have removed nearly 30,000,000 pounds of carp from Utah Lake," and praised recent efforts such as box traps and a local carp hunt that have "made a significant dent."

The mayor framed elimination as a unifying project that would require coordination across levels of government and sectors. She called for state, federal and local engagement, plus universities, nonprofits, businesses and philanthropists. "We are going to have to tap everybody," Kaufusi said, adding that the effort could also involve schools and community volunteers to build civic momentum.

Kaufusi sketched an organizing approach: convene partners, work backward from a December 2034 target to develop a timeline and then pursue funding and technologies to scale up removal. She said leaders will "turn over every rock" to find federal and state dollars and outside funding and invited volunteers to lead the effort.

During a brief question-and-answer period, attendees asked whether commercial carp harvest could be revived and whether carp biomass could be processed for fertilizer or pet food. Kaufusi said past uses should be reconsidered and that the team will explore financing and markets as part of the planning work.

The speech closed with a call to action rather than any formal vote or policy decision. Kaufusi had a short period for questions and then concluded the session; organizers said they would follow up with meetings to develop a timeline and funding strategy.