December 16, 2021

Conserve Utah Valley's Don't Pave Utah Lake Petition

FRIENDS of Great Salt Lake has joined Conserve Utah Valley's coalition to repeal H.B. 272 and oppose the Utah Lake dredged island development project.

Utah Lake is a sovereign land and Public Trust resource that belongs to the people of Utah - just like Great Salt Lake - and under the Utah Constitution must be managed in perpetuity as a sovereign land by the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. A 2018 bill, H.B. 272 "Utah Lake Amendments", created a loophole that allows the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands to "dispose" of the lakebed and transfer its ownership to commercial developers.

Right now, an LLC called Lake Restoration Solutions is preparing to build 20,000 acres of dredged islands and house 500,000 people on them. The state legislature gave this company a $10 million loan guarantee last year to subsidize their fundraising and permitting efforts (coverage here).

State resources and taxpayer dollars should not be used to subsidize a real estate venture that claims to have billions lined up from foreign investors. Repealing H.B. 272 will restore Utah Lake’s constitutional protection, ensuring Utah Lake is held in Public Trust in perpetuity for all Utahns, present and future.

Utah Lake is already in recovery thanks to decades of collaborative, science-based restoration efforts. The dredged island development would be devastating for the lake’s ecology.

Read about the issues, sign the petition, contact your representatives, and follow/share @conserveutahvalley on Instagram.

Visit www.dontpaveutahlake.org for more information.