The cover painting, Gilbert Munger’s Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Mountains, is an incredible glimpse of the early years of settlement around Great Salt Lake. Munger’s interpretation suggests harmony, tranquility and optimism.

When I’m on the lakeside looking toward the Wasatch, I often feel that same sense of harmony, tranquility and optimism. Even under the most intense of trials, my sense is that Great Salt Lake will prevail as a vibrant and sustainable ecosystem. And yet our relationship with the lake is much more complicated than it was when Munger was working with the 40th Parallel survey team. As a growing metropolitan area of 1.7 million people, our collective needs often seem more important than those of Great Salt Lake.

The art of Great Salt Lake and the history of Great Salt Lake since statehood are two areas where FRIENDS has not had much of an opportunity to spend much time. In future issues of this newsletter, at general meetings, and during our various Issues Forums we hope to explore not just the science but the art of Great Salt Lake.

Since our founding in 1994, we have concentrated not on the art or history of the lake but on defining the issues and problems that confront the lake now. One of those issues that has required a tremendous amount of time and energy is the Legacy Parkway.

On November 16, 2001, Utahns for Better Transportation, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, and the Sierra Club scored a major victory when the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ordered the Utah Department of Transportation to stop all further destruction of wetlands and other wildlife habitat while we appeal the Legacy Parkway case in that court.

And yet, there is still lots of work to do to convince the Court of Appeals that the federal and state agencies that supported and approved the project violated federal environmental laws. In our work to prepare our appeal for the case, I hope you will consider making a donation to the legal fund and send letters or OpEd pieces that support balanced transportation to your local newspapers.

Even while we’re addressing our immediate problems, it’s important to think of Munger’s magnificent painting. Can we reach a collective vision of harmony, tranquility and optimism?

Yours in saline,

Lynn de Freitas