GRAND FORKS (AP) - Sen. Byron Dorgan says the 2009 federal budget set to be released next week by President Bush does not include funding for the Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks.

The North Dakota Democrat says the budget calls for the center to be closed, and for many of its functions to be transferred to federal Agricultural Research Service offices in Maryland and California.

The Agriculture Department declined comment.

The Grand Forks center has 94 employees, including 55 federal employees and 39 state workers contracted through the University of North Dakota. Director Gerald Combs says there are eight more open positions.

Dorgan says he'll work to keep the lab in Grand Forks. Its budget last year was 9.3 million dollars.