“Great Salt Lake [is an] entity to be respected, praised, and protected.” — Terry Tempest Williams
Having just celebrated another Thanksgiving with the traditional family practice of each person expressing gratitude for one particular special blessing, I realized that there was one thing everyone in the Salt Lake Valley could have had on their list, but probably few actually did: the Great Salt Lake, the last remnant of ancient Lake Bonneville, the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere, and the home to 339 species of birds. The lake also contributes to the well-being of everyone living within its proximity.
According to legend, the lake was named “Great” by American explorer Jim Bridger over two centuries ago. Looking at the expanse of the lake when he witnessed it for the first time, he could not have foreseen how dramatically it would shrink by our day or how endangered the entire populace would become due to the toxic air from its shrunken and exposed lakebed. Indigenous peoples called the lake “Big Water,” a name that would certainly be ironic today given the lake’s diminished size and threatened future.
Since Bridger’s naming of the lake, it has lost nearly three-fourths of its water volume and two-thirds of its surface area, thus exposing 800 square miles of lakebed. Due to scientific evidence and ecological research, we now know things about the lake that the native population, early explorers and the pioneers who came later could not have known or imagined — that due to insufficient water it has become seriously endangered and thereby endangers the health of those who breathe the air from off the lake, which is everyone.
Understanding this should increase our gratitude for those among us who are working so diligently and passionately to save the lake. In response to the present crisis, which is both complex and extensive, a remarkable coalition of lake caretakers has emerged: scientists, politicians, academics, environmentalists, religious leaders, philanthropists, artists and everyday citizens who are presently united in confronting one of the most urgent environmental challenges in the American West. This diverse coalition demonstrates that saving the Great Salt Lake is a shared mission that transcends politics, religion and ideology.
One of the ways we can keep the spirit of Thanksgiving alive is to make space in our hearts for gratitude for the many efforts now underway to get more water into the lake. That includes the policymakers drafting legislation, the scientists doing research and crunching data, the activists rallying communities, the philanthropists writing checks, the artists and religious leaders stirring our souls, and our neighbors and friends who are consciously saving water by replacing their lawns with drought-resistant plants, not overwatering and donating service to the lake. Their collective dedication to saving the lake is a gift to Utah’s present and future inhabitants.
Terry Tempest Williams, one of the wisest and most passionate advocates for our rescuing and restoring the lake, speaks not only of the gratitude we must feel for this precious body of water but also the kind of love that gratitude engenders: “This is where I place my faith — in our collective capacity to mobilize love. If we can shift our view of Great Salt Lake from a lake to be avoided to a lake we cherish; from a body of wasted water to an ancient body of wisdom; not to exploit, dam, and dike, but to honor and respect as a sovereign body, our relationship and actions toward the lake will be transformative.”
Within a few weeks we will all have the opportunity to make New Year’s resolutions. What a gift it would be to the lake, its creatures and one another were we each to resolve to do something positive toward restoring the lake. That would make a great lake even greater!