Rally on wetlands and the Inland Port
On November 6, 2023, activists showed up at the Capitol to oppose the Utah Inland Port and specifically their assault on wetlands. Currently the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) is the single biggest driver of wetland destruction and impairment in the Great Salt Lake Basin.
The rally occurred before a Utah Inland Port Authority meeting, where they released a wetlands plan. The plan does not go nearly far enough, as there is no real way to mitigate the damage done by paving over and industrializing wetlands. Especially those of Great Salt Lake, where millions are being spent to attempt to rescue the lake and preserve life in Utah.
At the rally, the Stop the Polluting Port Coalition released their wetlands report, which UPHE worked extensively on.
“It seems to us as though the state is about ready to adopt a wholesale sacrifice of our environment to industrial development. When you take wetlands and replace them with asphalt and cement, by the tens of thousands of acres, you’re asking for significant consequences to quality of life, to traffic congestion throughout the Wasatch Front” UPHE president Dr. Brian Moench said at the rally.