Olivia Juarez

I'm really called to this question about how we get to stay. I think mostly what we hear in popular discourse about Great Salt Lake is perhaps economic decisions that drive Great Salt Lake’s future. Others will point to legislative solutions, like a maximum salinity level or a minimum lake level. I think all of those things are crucial; we absolutely need these bare minimum requirements. But I don't think it's enough, because our economic system and our cultural awareness isn't set up to value Great Salt Lake for just existing. I think for us to be able to stay here means for us to value, love, and honor Great Salt Lake just for being — just because she's there, not because of the things that she gives us, not because of the ways that we benefit from her, but because we have almost like a heart connection. That's what you do as a human. That's what your humanity is: respecting others. 

Olivia Juarez is a co-host of the Stay Salty: Lakefacing Stories podcast. Olivia is a lifelong Utahn. They nurture Latino/a/e joy and leadership in conserving nuestra tierra pública with GreenLatinos and Latino Outdoors. They also produced and hosted Utah Silvestre, a bilingual mini-series of the Wild Utah podcast.