Gov. Gary Herbert wants 'more holistic approach' in determining Great Salt Lake's future

ANTELOPE ISLAND STATE PARK — On a typical day, the Great Salt Lake is a smooth mirror, a shimmering, flat calm. The real turbulence is above the surface as people from several walks of life fight for their divergent interests focused on and along the massive pool.

Gov. Gary Herbert, however, has put some of those folks together in a group charged with determining the long-term future of the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere.

The governor called last week's first meeting of the Great Salt Lake Advisory Board "literally an event that I'm going to that is for the birds." But in addition to migratory birds, the board also will consider input from people who extract minerals or harvest brine shrimp from the lake, hunt in its marshes or love seeing the lake's splendor.

The 11-member board, appointed by the governor, was created this year by HB343. The panel will advise the state's Natural Resources and Environmental Quality departments and others on the "sustainable use, protection and development" of the lake "in terms of balancing sustainable use, environmental health and reasonable access for existing and future development," according to bill's text.

Then-Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. in 2008 created the Great Salt Lake Commission, which recommended the formation of an advisory council. The resulting group includes county commissioners, municipal officials and representatives of conservation groups and industries that use the lake.

Herbert said it is an example of bringing together diverse points of view and diverse groups "in unprecedented ways in unprecedented partnerships."

"We're not only to look at the lake from just one single point of view," but rather consider "all the needs of all Utahns who rely on this lake for recreation, contemplation, even in helping produce the greatest snow on earth," Herbert said.

Stressing the "need for us to have a more holistic approach," the governor said the board will take a long-range view of the issues.

"The goal is to have this group look beyond the cycles and instead take into account the entire view of the whole system," he said. "This is a lake, and it's also an ecosystem that is thousands of years old. We are just temporary stewards of this place, and we must make sure that under our watch, we do all we can to preserve, to enhance and to utilize the Great Salt Lake."

Board members spoke about the importance of the group and its duties.