Lake-Facing Organizations
There are so many organizations throughout the watershed that it can be hard to keep track of who’s who. Here’s our inside scoop to help you learn about these other great lake-facing groups.
Utah Youth Environmental Solutions (UYES)
UYES is a predominantly youth-of-color-led organization that empowers young people in Utah to mobilize around climate and environmental issues through legislation, education, and action.
Their mission is to connect young people to environmental advocacy by cultivating reciprocal relationships between youth, environmental organizations, and community leaders. We utilize systems-based thinking to pragmatically address local environmental issues and increase youth access to political engagement.
UYES leads campaigns to address pressing water management concerns in Utah and the greater Southwest, with an emphasis on protecting the Great Salt Lake; decouple the education system from fossil fuels; transition Utah school districts to 100% renewable energy; and educate and engage young people in environmental and climate justice.
Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. In Utah, they have made substantial efforts to protect the Great Salt Lake and its wetlands through public action and litigation.
In September, The Center for Biological Diversity partnered with several organizations to file a lawsuit against the state of Utah for its failure to maintain a healthy Great Salt Lake. They view protecting the Great Salt Lake as the state’s legal obligation under the public trust doctrine.
Stop the Polluting Ports
Stop the Polluting Ports is a coalition of individuals and organizations speaking out against industrial developments that could significantly impact wetlands near the Great Salt Lake. The organization emphasizes that potential inland ports, proposed by the Utah Inland Port Authority, could devastate tens of thousands of acres of wetlands. They have been continual advocates for the Lake and are making sure that developers get held accountable before they haphazardly move forward with building inland ports complexes along the Lake’s shore.
HEAL Utah
HEAL Utah is actively addressing concerns related to the Great Salt Lake, with a primary goal of understanding and mitigating the impact of dust blowing over the city. This involves legislative efforts to increase monitoring networks collaborating with researchers and the community. Our main goal is to create solutions by engaging the public and building relationships. HEAL aims to prevent potential dust-related health risks and acts as a connector between the community and decision-makers.
Friends of Great Salt Lake
Since 1994, the mission of FRIENDS has to preserve and protect the Great Salt Lake ecosystem and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the Lake through education, research, advocacy and the arts. The long-term vision of FRIENDS is to achieve comprehensive watershed-based restoration and protection for the Great Salt Lake ecosystem.
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy has worked for decades to protect the Great Salt Lake and its ecosystem. In 1984 TNC made its first land purchase along the Great Salt Lake, protecting wetland bird habitat. Today, TNC’s Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve spans 4,307 acres along the lake’s eastern shore, and they own or manage over 10,000 acres of critical habitats around the Great Salt Lake.
TNC’s Dave Livermore has served on the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council since its establishment and is currently its vice-chair, and TNC staff have served on the technical committee for Great Salt Lake Water Quality Standards and Division of Forest, Fire, and State Lands Great Salt Lake Technical Team. In 2023, TNC began co-managing the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust with the National Audubon Society, and they are a sponsor of the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions based journalism initiative focused on the lake.
Great Salt Lake Interfaith Action Coalition (GSLIAC)
GSLIAC’s purpose is to take action together to save Great Salt Lake, while respecting other’s unique spiritual and faith-based traditions. They talk action on behalf of Great Salt Lake as individual spiritual and faith-based communities, collectively as a coalition of spiritual and faith-based communities, through educational outreach and advocacy, and by reaching out into the community
Much of their work involves learning about the issues and sharing information and ideas through emails and at monthly Zoom meetings with the members so that they can engage their faith communities in actions (like signing petitions, going to rallies, writing/lobbying legislators, water conservation, attending work activities together).
Youth Coalition for Great Salt Lake
YCGSL is an energetic group of high school students who came together to save Great Salt Lake. Their efforts are focused on informing the public, collaborating with partners, contributing through service, and legislating by lawmakers to save Great Salt Lake.
Save Our Great Salt Lake
Save Our Great Salt Lake is a group of organizers, artists, business owners, and concerned citizens working together to prevent ecosystem collapse at the Great Salt Lake. They do this by holding space for collective learning and engagement and inviting every person in this bioregion to share responsibility for equitable, long-term water stewardship and to cultivate their own reverent and reciprocal relationship with water.