Observe, please, that society these days seems to brush aside ecological values, even while we sometimes pay limited attention to human health issues.
Eric Rumple’s otherwise noble essay in the June 8 Salt Lake Tribune paints a worthy picture of mediation as a process to arrive at stable or improved air quality, with no mention of the Great Salt Lake.
Other articles have characterized economic growth as the measure of all that is worthwhile, again with no mention of the GSL ecosystem on which we are dependent.
Courtney Tanner’s chilling feature on science education offered little hope that the Great Salt Lake — ecologically and biogeochemically the most important feature of our place on this astonishing planet — has any chance of survival in the face of the current human wave of self-centeredness. The lake is in danger of drying up and contaminating all habitat for millions of birds that migrate through these equally noble wetlands each season, supporting the thousands of other plant and animal species that populate the lake, its tributaries and its margins.
Decision-makers of the inland port, the state school board, other state and local government agencies and developers galore, please perceive and understand the Great Salt Lake for what it is: the intensely precious natural system of which we should be humble and knowledgeable participants, rather than sacred proprietors for selfish purposes.
Ivan Weber, Salt Lake City
