Just before Halloween last fall, the Utah Division of Fires Forestry and State Lands (FFSL) rejected as unconstitutional a corporate plan to dredge sediment from the bottom of Utah Lake to make islands. The company planned to sell housing lots to those gullible enough to want to build their houses, not on the rock, or even on sand, but on piled-up, lake-bottom sludge. Conservationists and citizens, inside and outside Utah Valley, breathed a sigh of relief heard all around the state.
Last year, in addition to the decision signed by FFSL chief Jamie Barnes, HB 232 was passed by the Utah Legislature, creating the Utah Lake Authority (ULA). Part of the bill dictates that the ULA must respect the public trust doctrine and cannot approve any proposal to trade sovereign land for a lake improvement project. However, the ULA can approve a plan for use of the lake in return for an improvement project. Whether or not that is a loophole for development that would damage the lake remains to be seen.
Last year the legislature also passed HB 240, which further reduces the power of a government agency or division to dispose of the sovereign land of the lake.
But we can’t afford complacency. Leopards don’t change their spots, and developers always follow the money. Some developers care about what corners they cut to achieve that goal or what kind of mess they leave behind, but some don’t. How much money are we talking about with the lake island boondoggle? Probably not the $480,000 per lot for 500,000 residents that some critics predicted the company wanted, but some fraction of that. As an exercise, suppose the company hopes to sell 100,000 lots at $100,000 per lot. That’s $10 billion dollars. Company officials wanting a taste of that chunk of money are not going to retreat to a corner to sulk.
Even measured against other land prospectors, this company doesn’t have a good record of responsible public behavior. I tend to put one hand on my wallet when someone dons a sincere mask and says they are the only solution to my problems. And the principals of this company have other scary masks. They sued professor and lake researcher Ben Abbott for defamation and “intentional interference with prospective economic relations.” Apparently, they’re worried his statements that their project is based on poor environmental science may keep them from making a fortune off of the lake, a public resource. Abbott’s claim is supported by a hundred lake scientists and experts, who have signed a letter decrying dredging as means for restoring the lake.
Other critics of the islands project wonder about SEC violations. Did officers of the company inform investors about the risk that the whole project might be rejected and declared unconstitutional? How valid was the company’s poll, shared with investors, which claimed support from most residents of Utah county? Has the company actually raised as much money as they claim they have on their statements to new investors?
I’m convinced that despite the questionable legality and feasibility of the project, the corporation will try again, either through the courts or by lobbying to change the law. The Legislature is set to start up again this month. A safe wager would be that officers of this corporation have already approached several of our elected legislators. Who will be tempted to trade the public interest for a mess of money?
Not only do leopards never change their spots, but dogs always return to their vomit. Lake Restoration Solutions is not gone. The name itself is like a Halloween mask, pretending to be something it isn’t. The officers of that company are quietly making phone calls, trying to find legislators who will help them bend the law in their favor. They’re knocking on doors with their hands out: Trick or treat?
John Bennion
John Bennion is a writer and member of Conserve Utah Valley, the organization that stopped development of Bridal Veil Falls.
