My first memory of the Great Salt Lake came from the vantage point of a Delta Airlines Boeing 767. As the plane flew over the sun-lit water, dawn barely breaking over the waves, what seemed like every passenger marveled out the window at a hauntingly beautiful landscape. Colors from the myriad of algae, lake water, sand bars and even the snow-capped mountains seemed to dance with the rhythm of a Romantic era waltz. As my mind filled with indescribable awe, the plane turned at the last second and landed at the airport. Since then, the memory of that beautiful lake was burned forever into my brain.
I was born in Singapore, then lived in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, then Honolulu. As someone surrounded by nature my entire life, when I learned of the ongoing project to save the Great Salt Lake, I was brought immediately back to my roots as a kid. Growing up in Hawaii, I lived in the backyard of the famed Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park. As I would climb and walk the slopes of those hulking giants, I could almost hear the jagged lava rocks singing their song to me. Nature wasn’t just a playground to me. It was sacred land, the balance of life so precious to every creature on this planet. At the same time, I realized that the inspiration I felt was not limited simply to Hawaii. Rather, as citizens of planet Earth, they were to be enjoyed all over the world.
I think of Henry David Thoureau’s quote: “It’s not what you look at that matters, but what you see.”
It is in that vein that The Great Salt Lake speaks to me. Truly, no other place in the solar system matches what the Great Salt Lake has to offer. Yes, I’ve seen photographs of the expansive canyons on Mars, the striking volcanoes of Venus, and even the sculpted rings of Saturn. Yet, how many of those places are home to the explosion of life woven into the environment of the Great Salt Lake? How many of them are literally on the doorstep of millions, accessible not by spaceship, but by foot? I dare to imagine what it was like for Native Americans to look at that lake, mesmerized as I was on that airplane flight years ago. To them, the lake was sacred, woven into the fabric of their lives. Its features continue to captivate our imaginations today. I know no better way to pay homage to a land as sacred as this than by designating it as Great Salt Lake National Park for the world to appreciate and enjoy. The lake has the potential to bring the world together in appreciation for the planet we live on. We owe it to our children, grandchildren and so forth to allow them a taste of this.
It amazes me that national park recognition is on the table for a site so close to home. How blessed we are as Utahns to live in the shadow of such a marvelous wonder as the Great Salt Lake. Let us band together as Utahns and as citizens of this state and planet to give this lake the due it deserves.
(Andrew Chin) In a guest commentary for The Salt Lake Tribune, BYU student Andrew Chin writes that we must “band together as Utahns and as citizens of this state and planet to give the Great Salt Lake the due it deserves.”
Andrew Chin is a BYU Communications undergraduate, and a member of the Men’s Golf Team. Since January 2023, he has collaborated on research and a project undertaken by various BYU departments on a proposal to designate the Great Salt Lake as a national park. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys going to the gym, doing family history, visiting the temple, and spending time with friends.
