Great Salt Lake Utah, USA Hemispheric Reserve

Great Salt Lake Utah Nature Reserve Location

40-42' n, 112- 113'W, within Davis, Box Elder, Tooele, Salt Lake, and Weber counties, Utah, United States.

Area:

The lake averages approximately 3,750 sq. km. (1,500 sq. miles) with fluctuations between 2,331 - 6,216 sq. km. (900-2400 sq. miles).

Description:

Great Salt Lake (GSL) is a closed basin saline lake located in Northwestern Utah, within the Great Basin. The lake varies in depth and voulme with climatic conditions. GSL is at an average elevation of approximately 4,200 feet above sea level and contains a range of salinities from 5 - 27 %.
 

Made part of a "three way twinning" with Laguna Mar Chiquita and Mono Lake in June, 1992 because of similarities in ecology and the fact that all three support large numbers of migrating Wilson's phalaropes. 

Biology:

No accurate counts exist for most shorebirds using the Great Salt Lake. The few studies that have been conducted suggest that high numbers (perhaps millions) use the lake for breeding and migration. For some species, such as the Wilson's Phalarope, it is a major staging area. A one-day aerial survey in July, 1986 estimated 387,000 Wilson's Phalarope and 600,000 were estimated on a single day in July, 1991. Numbers of Red-necked Phalaropes, which seem more variable, have been estimated as high as 300,00+ on a single day. Recent ongoing studies suggest that at least 5- 10,000 Snowy Plover nest on the alkaline flats surrounding the lake. The current estimate for breeding American Avocet is 40,000 and Black-necked Stilts 30,000.

The following species have been recorded on the Great Salt Lake:

• American Avocet
• Baird's Sandpiper
• Black-bellied Plover
• Black-necked Stilt
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper
• Common Snipe
• Dunlin
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Hudsonian Godwit
• Killdeer
• Least Sandpiper
• Lesser Golden Plover
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Long-billed Curlew
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Marbled Godwit
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Piping Plover
• Red Knot
• Red Phalarope
• Red-necked Phalarope
• Ruddy Turnstone
• Sanderling
• Semipalmated Plover
• Semipalmated Sandpiper
• Short-billed Dowitcher
• Snowy Plover
• Solitary Sandpiper
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Stilt Sandpiper
• Upland Sandpiper
• Western Sandpiper
• Whimbrel
• White-rumped Sandpiper
• Willet
• Wilson's Phalarope

Also recorded in the area are the Mountain Plover, Wandering Tattler, Hudsonian Godwit, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Curlew Sandpiper.

The Great Salt Lake is also important to many other species. Hundreds of thousands of Eared Grebes stage on the lake, fattening on the abundant brine shrimp. One of the world's largest populations of White-faced Ibis nests in the marshes along the east side of the lake. The GSL hosts the largest number of breeding California Gulls, including the world's largest recorded single colony. Approximately 150,00 breeding adults have been documented in recent years. The American White Pelican colony on Gunnison Island ranks in the top three in North America. up to 17,000 breeding adults have been recorded. Numerous other species depend upon the lake, such as Franklin's gulls, waterfowl, herons, egrets, terns, raptors (including Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons), and songbirds.

Land Use:

Recreation and tourism, mineral extraction, sport hunting, brine shrimp harvesting, and lake side coil and copper refineries.

Threats:

Development of Southern and Eastern shores, primarily industrial, urban, agricultural, recreational and tourism threaten the lake. Plans for a major highway connecting Salt Lake and Davis Counties, that would bisect many GSL wetlands is also a threat, as is the possibility of using the lake as a dumping site for contaminated soil (arsenic and lead) from a super fund site. Attempts to stabilize water level and salinity could severely threaten the Lake's ecology. This is due to poor understanding of the Lake's ecosystem and the effects of alterations, especially to the Lake's saline component and connected organisms such as brine shrimp, brine flies and to a large degree, many shorebirds.

Ownership:

The lake is primarily owned by the State of Utah, with large blocks of land falling under the management of the State Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Above the meander line (4202-4215ft.), ownership is largely private, with some Nature Conservancy land and many privately-owned duck clubs.

Effective Protection:

Parts of the Lake are included in USFWS and State refuges as well as Nature Conservancy Lands.

Management and Research Activities:

In the mid-1980's, all of Bear river Migratory Bird Refuge was inundated by the Great Salt Lake and the refuge was Closed. The flood waters have receded and the refuge was restaffed in 1989. An Environmental Assessment on the restoration and expansion of the refuge was finalized in 1991. Refuge objectives highlight shorebird management and as restoration continues, shorebird use will be enhanced.

A concept plan for an Intermountain West Joint Venture, under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, is nearing completion. The Great Salt Lake and shorebirds are highlighted in the plan. Implementation of the joint venture will lead to partnerships that will protect and enhance shorebird habitat.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is conducting several studies designed to determine the extent of shorebird usage at selected sites around the Great Salt Lake. An annual survey of migrating Wilson's Phalaropes using the lake each year is being conducted by UDWR personnel under a contract with Hubbs Sea World. A study of temporal and spatial distribution of shorebirds is being conducted by the Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and is jointly funded by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) and Region 6 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ( Regional nongame migratory bird and North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) funds. A study to determine the nesting and foraging habitat requirements of the Western Snowy Plover around the lake is being undertaken by the Cooperative Research Unit and funded by the UDWR. Twice a year, several volunteers participate in the PRBO Pacific Flyway Project survey on the Great Salt Lake.

The UDWR, with help from the Fish and Wildlife Service, is currently working to identifying lands important, or potentially important to the management of shorebirds around GSL.