SALT LAKE CITY — A proposed sale of hundreds of acres of wetlands near the Great Salt Lake that have been largely untouched by humans for decades is now facing some pushback from bird enthusiasts who would like to see it stay that way.
The 950 acres of land, owned by Salt Lake City International Airport, is slated to be purchased by Utah's Department of Natural Resources. Inside the parcel is a mitigation area that was set aside in the 1990s when the airport built a runway. Since then, the airport has done some minimal work to battle the invasive plant phragmites and keep birds from encroaching upon the airport and, after being approached by the state, considered a sale.
"It certainly isn’t our core competency. We’re all about running airports," airport executive director Bill Wyatt said Wednesday.
The plan is to fold the land into a larger waterfowl management area, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources confirmed to FOX 13 News.
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"DWR hopes to expand waterfowl hunting opportunities and protect the wildlife habitat in the area through this purchase. If the acquisition is approved, the DWR would add the parcel to the Blackhawk Waterfowl Management Area to be managed as one WMA," DWR spokesperson Faith Jolley said in a statement. "Public access points, parking, motor vehicle restrictions, grazing, and other management decisions will be developed once the property is purchased and DWR writes the habitat management plan for the entire WMA. All management decisions must consider and be aligned with the conservation easement, which will be held by Utah Open Lands, as well as the 404 permit required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."
But the group Bird Safe Utah is pushing back on the land sale, questioning why the existing agreements that have largely kept humans out of the area can't continue to be honored.
"With the lake shrinking? We’re losing space to begin with, and now with some of these areas that have been left to flourish a little bit? We should be keeping those precious areas under wraps so they can’t be drained or damaged in the future," said Punita Koustubhan with Bird Safe Utah and the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society.
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Bird Safe Utah recently launched a public petition to push the Salt Lake City Council to add tougher terms to the land sale and a proposed conservation easement. They are also urging people to speak out at an Oct. 6 council meeting on the proposed land sale and conservation easement.
"Keeping undisturbed spaces for birds to rest, breed and forage is very important to biodiversity," Koustubhan told FOX 13 News.
By making it a waterfowl management area, Koustubhan said, it could open it up to some public access, hunting and grazing. While Bird Safe Utah is not opposed to those things in general, they do not feel it's appropriate for this particular piece of land.
"No one’s saying you can’t visit areas at the lake," Koustubhan said. "But this is set aside as conservation space, and it was designed that way."
Wyatt said he understood the concerns Bird Safe Utah and others have raised.
"I think we’ve been able to address it. We’re very cognizant of the role these wetlands play. No one wants to see the Great Salt Lake thrive more than we do," he said.
On Wednesday, FOX 13 News was able to get close to the property when a private landowner nearby granted the station permission to launch a drone, filming from a distance. The area is surrounded by some private property and state lands that have already been preserved to help the Great Salt Lake, which has dropped to historic lows in recent years.
If Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall approves the land transfer, it will come with a conservation easement that will be run by the group Utah Open Lands.
"Those terms do include protecting the habitat, protecting the wetlands and the associated ecology," said Wendy Fisher, Utah Open Lands' executive director.
What the conservation easement will do is lock up the land from development forever, Fisher told FOX 13 News. While she acknowledged there will likely be some limited public access to the property in the future, Utah Open Lands will be able to block development and set some terms about the use of the property.
"I think there’s a fundamental question about whether or not we want these lands protected or not," Fisher said. "That’s the first and foremost question. Administrations can change. Over 36 years, we’ve seen land that was supposed to be protected even legislatively come under a development lens."
Fisher said protecting the land just for wildlife is a worthy conversation to have, but she added that protecting nature sometimes comes from public appreciation of it, which includes some access.
A spokesperson for Mayor Mendenhall said Salt Lake City would remain engaged in how the land is managed even after the transfer.
"Mayor Mendenhall is supportive of the proposed conservation easement which will restrict development on the entirety of the 951 acres of land and preserve it as open space in perpetuity," Andrew Wittenberg, the mayor's communications director, told FOX 13 News.
Koustubhan said Salt Lake City should evaluate the terms of the deal with more public input.
"It should not be sold in a rush and given off to another maintenance organization and leave us out of it," she said.
This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.