| Fast Facts |
location
northwest of Salt Lake City
ecoregion
Great Basin Ecoregion
project size
22,000 square miles
preserves
Great Salt Lake Shorelands
public lands
Bear River Migratory Bird National Wildlife Refuge, Farmington Bay Refuge, Ogden Wildlife Management Area, Howard Slough Waterfowl Management Area
partners
Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, Envision Utah, Great Salt Lake Alliance, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Department of Natural Resources, Ducks Unlimited, Davis County, Kennecott Utah Copper, National Audubon Society, Intermountain West Joint Venture
conservancy initiatives
Invasive Species
natural events
major bird migrations, spring and fall; Great Salt Lake Bird Festival, May | |
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With its eastern shore bounded by sprawling metropolitan areas, the Great Salt Lake faces development pressures that threaten the system’s abundant avian life. |
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Stansbury Island.
© Tom Till |
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Vast and enigmatic, the Great Salt Lake fills the nadir of Utah’s Great Basin. This inland “sea” is eight times as salty as sea water; Israel’s Dead Sea is the only body of water in the world with a higher salt content. But far from dead, the Great Salt Lake is a complex and dynamic ecosystem and a desert oasis to millions of migrating birds each spring and fall.
The Great Salt Lake, itself almost the size of Connecticut, is a relict of the massive Lake Bonneville, which covered most of western Utah some 20,000 years ago. The hills around the lake reveal distinct benches marking the ancient lake’s water levels. The past is also evident in the Bonneville Salt Flats to the west—a broad, salt-covered lake bed that remained when Bonneville’s waters evaporated. It is one of the flattest places on Earth. |
Flock of gulls.
© Gary Crandall Photography |
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Native Americans inhabited the lake’s shores and islands as far back as 10,000 years ago. In 1843 the first formal exploration was led by prominent surveyor John C. Fremont, who hired fur trapper Kit Carson as a guide on this and other mapmaking expeditions. Fremont’s widely read accounts of their travels helped make Carson a national hero of his time. | |
The Great Salt Lake is a unique natural system. Salt-tolerant plants thrive in seasonally flooded playas and mud flats that support more than 200 bird species in their Pacific Flyway migrations. These avian travelers are nourished by brine flies and brine shrimp that proliferate in saltwater.
Burgeoning Salt Lake City, sandwiched between mountains and lake, puts pressure on the Great Salt Lake and its wetlands. Shoreline development and mineral extraction are key threats to the lake’s wildlife. The Nature Conservancy is participating in a citizen-based process in Davis County that is planning for future growth on the shoreline while incorporating the ecological needs of the lake. Local municipalities have already agreed to the plan’s provision to confine development to designated areas. Next steps are the adoption and implementation of conservation measures, such as transfer-of-development rights programs and easements.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Utah. |
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| Conservation Profile |
targets
Great Salt Lake, seasonally flooded wetlands and mud flats, riparian systems, white-faced ibis, long-billed curlew, snowy plover and other nesting and migratory birds
stresses
habitat loss to residential and industrial development, surface water diversions, compartmentalization of lake for mineral extraction, water quality degradation
strategies
acquire land, secure conservation easements, engage community, influence land-use planning, encourage conservation management of public and private lands, restore ecosystems, promote compatible development
results
3,500-acre preserve established; Davis County Shorelands Plan Phase 1 completed | | | | |
