Petition for the Wilson’s Phalarope and the link between GSL and Inland ports
By now, many of you, UPHE supporters and environmental champions, are aware of the harms of the Utah Inland Port; drastically increased diesel emissions, irresponsible uses of resident tax dollars, and threatened development on wetlands.
The Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) has approved four project areas which include Great Salt Lake wetlands; Salt Lake City, Box Elder, Tooele, and Weber County. Between these project areas there are 11,679 acres inside of wetlands grant lines, and 37,552 wetland acres abutting project areas.
A report that UPHE worked on highlights the threat UIPA poses to wetlands, mainly of Great Salt Lake. The report writes that wetlands reduce particulate pollution from the airshed. In fact, the presence or absence of wetlands can be used to predict levels of particulate matter pollution in an area.
UPHE’s video on the Utah Inland Port’s threat to wetlands ⇩
Many of us are also well aware of the connection between preserving Great Salt Lake and preserving the health of residents in Utah. Decades of mining and industry along the lake have left the lakebed laden with heavy metals, extremely toxic to human health. As lake levels recede and the bed dries, dust charged with these heavy metals blows into our communities and our bodies.
In our latest effort to garnish protections for Great Salt Lake, UPHE signed on to a petition to list the Wilson’s Phalarope as an Endangered Species. UPHE board member Dr. Sara Johnson spoke at a rally announcing the petition, “If we allow these birds, their habitat and the Great Salt Lake to disappear, we’re endangering life along the Wasatch Front for humans as well. So while this is a petition to preserve wildlife … it is also serving to extend preservation to the 2 million-plus inhabitants in this valley.”
🎥If you missed the rally, you can see it below ⇩
Learn more about how listing the Wilson’s Phalarope could protect Great Salt Lake:
Op-ed from the organizer, Deeda Seed from the Center for Biological Diversity
In recent Utah Inland Port news, Utah’s Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources, Joel Ferry, was appointed to the board of the port authority. As a new board member, public servant and a steward of Utah’s precious natural resources, we’d like to make the public’s concerns extremely clear to him.
Please reach out to Mr. Ferry and express your concerns over the Utah Inland Port at: joelferry@utah.gov or 801-538-7201
Talking points below ⇩
