And we’d learned as policymakers you just oftentimes get much better outcomes when you’re actually out in the field learning the issues firsthand, instead of hearing about them secondhand from others.”īoth Romney and Rep. “There’s nothing quite like having boots on the ground, eyes on an issue front and center instead of just some kind of theoretical conversation. “We were just trying to kind of get a real small glimpse, actually, because it’s such a big issue, to show some of the ecosystem around the lake and all the factors that are contributing to its decline,” Wilson said. Wilson said the idea of the tour was to get an in-person look at the many challenges faced by the declining Great Salt Lake. “What you are going to see is a hierarchy of the kinds of things we can do and they are going to be the things that are the least expensive to those that are very, very expensive,” Romney said, adding that he hopes conservation strategies will help stave off those more expensive options. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and state House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, were among a group of people to take an extensive tour of the lake on Friday to learn more and talk about solutions. To save the Great Salt Lake, its complex ecosystem and its value to the state of Utah and the West, one has to know the Great Salt Lake. 19, 2022.Įditor’s note: 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. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, greets Rich Hansen, manager of the Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, before taking a fan boat tour of the Great Salt Lake in Farmington Bay on Friday, Aug. Joel Ferry, R-Brigham City, front row left to right, ride on a fan boat piloted by Chad Cranney, assistant wildlife manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, back, on the Great Salt Lake in Farmington Bay on Friday, Aug. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, and Utah Rep. Joel Ferry, R-Brigham City, ride a fan boat piloted by Chad Cranney, assistant wildlife manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, on the Great Salt Lake in Farmington Bay on Friday, Aug. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, left to right, chat while on a fan boat tour on the Great Salt Lake in Farmington Bay on Friday, Aug. Joel Ferry, R-Brigham City, left to right, on a tour of the Great Salt Lake in Farmington Bay on Friday, Aug. Chad Cranney, assistant wildlife manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, pilots a fan boat carrying Sen.

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