He also expresses high hopes that recommendations made by the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council, on which he currently serves, will lead to the creation of a permanent Great Salt Lake Commission that will help guide future lake management. The 12-member advisory council, made up of many of the lake's diverse interest groups, was appointed by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. last August.

"The advisory council made significant progress — along a broad consensus — on a future vision for the lake. I think the merits will be seen and something accomplished," Leonard said, explaining the group's recommendations, based on evaluating the long-term viability of the lake and its entire ecosystem, must still pass muster with the governor and Legislature.

Friends of the Great Salt Lake director Lynn de Freitas, another advisory council member, is keeping her fingers crossed that the recommendations emerging from the gubernatorial and legislative crucibles "will look very much like what left our hands." Paramount, she believes, is the need to create a Great Salt Lake commission that can act in an advisory capacity.

Atwood gives gold stars to the advisory council for its work and considers the governor's decision to assemble the panel in the first place as evidence that he, for one, thinks the status quo regarding lake management needs to change.

At the same time she worries the council's recommendations risk being watered down or ignored in the power vacuum following Huntsman's announcement that he is leaving office to become U.S. ambassador to China.

"I personally might not be, but I believe a lot of people are very happy with the present management of the lake or lack thereof," Atwood said.

Leonard is urging everyone to let the process play out before rushing to judgment.

Unwise steward

Atwood lost faith in the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands' ability to protect and preserve the lake early on in the GSL Minerals expansion process. Her frustrations and concerns about current and future governance of the Great Salt Lake led to her to resign recently from the DFFSL's advisory council. DFFSL, by statute, has stewardship over Utah's sovereign lands made up primarily of the beds and banks of the state's navigable waters, including the Great Salt Lake.

She calls DFFSL as a "well-meaning" but "ineffective" manager of the lake, suggesting its staff is stretched thin and too focused on its firefighting duties to manage the sovereign lands under its jurisdiction properly.

"Lack of staff doesn't just lead to negligence," Atwood said. "But it leads to decisions contrary to the public in terms of process and outcomes."