To raise awareness and work toward the restoration of the Great Salt Lake, LDS Earth Stewardship (LDSES) is collaborating with a variety of supporting community organizations to host a Great Salt Lake cleanup service project and Easter Celebration starting at 9 a.m. on April 19, 2025, at Great Salt Lake State Park. The activity will include trash and invasive plant removal, complemented with Easter-themed fun and educational activities for kids and families.
For the April 19 event, partners include The Nature Conservancy, Grow The Flow, Great Salt Lake Audubon, The Great Salt Lake Interfaith Action Coalition, The Utah Department of Natural Resources, Citizens Climate Lobby, Clark Planetarium, FastForward, HEALUtah, The Jordan River Commission, Utah Clean Energy, and Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
“The work to restore Great Salt Lake to a healthy level is imperative to our state’s economic growth, the health of our communities, and the longevity of a world-renowned ecosystem,” said Dr. Ben Abbot, BYU ecology professor and Executive Director of Grow The Flow. “The fact that the majority of the lake’s decline is driven by our water use locally, and not global changes to the climate, is a source of hope. We got ourselves into this problem, and we have an opportunity to become the first community around the world to save their saline lake.”
“We are grateful for the efforts from all of these community organizations,” said Joan Gregory, Board member of the Great Salt Lake Interfaith Action Alliance and member of the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City. “Our solution to lake restoration will take all of us.”
LDSES has actively supported efforts to restore the Great Salt Lake, including collaborating with other environmental groups, organizing service projects, and delivering education on lake restoration. Past service projects have included cleanups of the lakeshore and tributaries that feed the lake. Education activities have included webcasts, social media posts, media interviews, firesides, panels, and stewardship lessons in Latter-day Saint ward meetings.
“Latter-day Saint scripture includes profound and unique calls for earth stewardship,” said Mike Maxwell, Chair of the Salt Lake Area Chapter of LDSES. “While we still have many years of hard work in front of us to save the Great Salt Lake, Easter and Earth Day are opportunities to focus on restoration and renewal.”
LDSES has embraced the invitation to follow the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ example and guidance on saving the Great Salt Lake. The Church has led by example, donating 20,000 acre-feet of water rights to help save the Lake in 2023. In announcing that donation, Bishop Christopher Waddell invited church members to reduce individual water consumption and support legislative changes to preserve the Great Salt Lake, in addition to prayer and fasting.
To encourage water conservation, LDSES is running a year-long “Temple Waterwise” Instagram campaign, which shows examples of waterwise landscaping features at Latter-day Saint temples across Northern Utah and encourages Utah residents to employ these features in residential, commercial, and agricultural property over which they have stewardship.
Volunteer registrations can be found on JustServe.com or the LDSES Registration Page. Admission to Great Salt Lake State Park and all activities are free for service volunteers.
