Join us for a work-in-progress screening of Evaporating Shorelines, a documentary about the Great Salt Lake. We would like you to join us to provide input on this documentary. Admission is free. Come early and stay late. Networking and Q&A before and after the screening. Please tell anyone else you think might be interested.  Please help make this viral by posting this event on all of your social networking sites.  Thank you!
 
Please RSVP at http://www.evaporatingshorelines.eventbrite.com. The documentary is one hour with Networking and Q&A before and after the screening. Come early and stay late for networking and Q&A.

Come enjoy the day with us at the The Great Salt Lake Bird Festival http://www.greatsaltlakebirdfest.com/

To join the conversation, go to http://www.facebook.com/EvaporatingShorelines

Our documentary is already working to protect the Great Salt Lake. We wrote a letter to the Department of Natural Resources and they extended the deadline for letters for public comment. They extended the deadline for public comment to May 31, 2012. This just goes to show that one letter can make a huge difference. Please write your letters now. Imagine the difference 1,000 people can make.

Backlight Pictures, LLC is not a non-profit organization.
Send contributions to:
Backlight Pictures, LLC
P.O. Box 188
West Jordan, UT 84084

Please support our efforts by sharing this link, coming to a screening, donating money to Backlight Pictures, LLC, and/or joining organizations like Great Salt Lake Audubon or Utah Chapter of Sierra Club.

Here is a synopsis of the documentary:

Great Salt Lake Minerals Corporation received a permit from the Utah Department of Natural Resources to expand their industrial operations. 91,000 acres of shorelines, wetlands, and water on the Great Salt Lake are in jeopardy. These lands are held in public trust for the citizens of the State of Utah. Once these areas are leased to private companies and turned into evaporation ponds, the companies that hold the leases can put up no trespassing signs.

Fifteen non-profit organizations have joined together to form Keep The Lake Great to protect these 91,000 acres. This coalition is appealing to the Army Corps of Engineers to stop this project. This documentary, Evaporating Shorelines, includes commentary from government officials, scientists, attorneys, and residents of Utah, about the value of the lake from the scientific viewpoint to the aesthetics of the lake to recreational usage. The film includes footage of the amazing birds, plants, and animals that are crucial to this ecosystem.

Please write your letters for public comment to these 4 people:

If you're an elder, please let them know what changes you have seen at the Great Salt Lake since you were a kid. Your historical records matter. When you write a letter, please let them know why you value the Great Salt Lake and why you want to protect the wilderness areas of the Great Salt Lake from industrial development. Please tell them the greatest value of the Great Salt Lake is to have a pristine ecosystem. Let them know what the alternatives to industrial development are: wildlife, tourism, birdwatching, sunsets, views, vistas, boating, hunting, future generations of wildlife and people, public health, and reconnecting with the planet... Please let them know the impacts of mineral extraction and water leases on the Great Salt Lake. Let them know that you do not want any more dikes built in the Great Salt Lake. Let them know that dikes on the Great Salt Lake destroy wildlife habitat, divert water flow, permanently damage the muddy lake bed, create abnormal salinity levels, destroy the ebb and flow of the lake which gives the lake it's health...Let them know why you love the Great Salt Lake and ask a lot of questions like "What is an American White Pelican worth?...What is clean water worth?...What is clean air worth?...The Great Salt Lake in its natural state is worth more than a pile of fertilizer or salt.

Jason Gipson
Reference: SPK-2007-00121
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Utah Regulatory Office
533 West 2600 South, Ste. 150
Bountiful, Utah 84010
(801) 295-8380 x 14
Email: jason.a.gipson@usace.army.mil
Please write one letter to Jason now, and one letter after the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is released later this year.

The Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands and its planning consultant, SWCA Environmental Consultants, are committed to the concepts of open government and public engagement in the planning process for these public lands. WeThey invite you to provide your thoughts regarding issues and ideas important to you in management of state lands at Great Salt Lake. Extended Deadline: May 31, 2012.
Laura Burch Vernon, AICP
SWCA Environmental Consultants
257 East 200 South, Suite 200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
lvernon@swca.com
http://www.ffsl.utah.gov/sovlands/greatsaltlake/2010Plan/publicinfo.php

Gov. Gary R. Herbert
Utah State Capitol Complex
350 North State Street, Suite 200
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220
gherbert@utah.gov

Mike Styler, Executive Director
Utah Department of Natural Resources
1594 West North Temple, Suite 3710
PO Box 145610
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-5610
mikestyler@utah.gov

If you would like us to post your letter on our facebook page, please email us your letter at greatsaltlakestory [at] gmail.com or post it on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/EvaporatingShorelines