From Deseret News archives:
Davis plan aims to manage and protect resource
Up to 6 million call the lake home at one time or another. Once, biologists counted 600,000 Wilson's phalaropes in a single day.
Those wetlands drew statewide attention in recent years after lawsuits were filed in January 2001 to stop construction of the Legacy Parkway, a highway first proposed in 1996 by then-Gov. Mike Leavitt, who said it would help ease traffic congestion along the Wasatch Front. The lawsuits centered around the highway's expected impact on the county's wetlands. A settlement last year has allowed preliminary construction to begin this summer.
Although the idea had been on county planners' minds even before the Legacy lawsuit was filed, Davis County didn't have any plan for managing and preserving habitat along the 27 miles of Great Salt Lake shoreline until July 2001. As human populations ballooned, county planners saw homes being constructed farther west and worried about the effects on wetlands.
By the end of the 1990s, The Nature Conservancy had started talks with county planners about the future of other stretches of the county shorelands. It was a topic that county planners had already been considering on their own.
Barry Burton, assistant director of community and economic development for Davis County, said he remembers sitting with his boss and discussing the future of their department.
The two men realized that "there were really a couple of things our grandchildren would thank us for," Burton said. "One was preserving the shorelands. The other was to protect the foothills and our access to the mountains."
Burton and his boss, Wilf Sommerkorn, took the issue to the Davis County Council of Governments, made up of mayors in the county's 15 cities and the three county commissioners.
Comments
- Utes focus on game, not 'GameDay' 11:27 p.m.
- Writers contest deadline is Nov. 20 11:27 p.m.
- 4A: Thunderbirds dynasty lives on 11:26 p.m.
- RSL plans to attack early, often 11:25 p.m.
- 2 accused of nearly flattening officer 11:24 p.m.
- 4A: Brown plays big for Timpview 11:24 p.m.
- Photo: A feast for the poor 11:23 p.m.
- 4A: Springville 29, Dixie 21 11:12 p.m.
- ESPN suddenly loves MWC 11:10 p.m.
- 3A: Juan Diego 35, Wasatch 14 11:04 p.m.
- SLC council OKs gay rights policies
318 - TCU showdown has big implications
195 - Senators want food tax restored
158 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
143 - Will state consider gay rights law?
137 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
119 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
119 - Utes remain silent about BCS
113 - S.L. vote pending on gay protections
110
One of my guilty pleasures is perusing the covers of celebrity magazines...
The galactic center shines like firelight through gaps in …
the line play happens like that when you have 5 WR with no extra help. ...
1 -1-2005 - FIESTA BOWL - Utah 35, Pittsburgh 7 12-29-2005 - Emerald Bowl -...
badger is a beast - nuff said
Amen. We should all be concerned if it is Army protocol to transfer a...
Should be a good exhibition type game for the Aggies to help them get ready...
I could take the legislature seriously if they cut their salary and benefits...
I'd love to have the Deseret News pay for me to eat at all these places. How...
i have never (in the last four years since my children started attending lone...
"The church is against all sexual encounters outside of marriage. True. But...
Congratulations coach Wong, Van Orden, etc. Way to have these boys prepared...



You can be the first to comment on this story.