Utah State Forester, Director
Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands
Bio:
Jamie Barnes currently serves as the Utah State Forester and Director of Utah’s Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. The division administers numerous forestry programs to promote healthy forests, is responsible for wildfire management on state and private lands and oversees Utah’s state sovereign land use and preservation. Prior to her appointment as Utah’s State Forester and the Division Director in August 2021, Jamie managed the division’s sovereign lands program. Jamie has a diverse background working with state, local, and federal governments as well as a variety of stakeholders where she has forged many collaborative solutions to policy challenges. She began her career in the legal system working in the private law sector. There she gained experience and knowledge in criminal and civil law. She started with the division in 2011 as a paralegal, focusing on complex legal issues. Jamie holds a Master of Natural Resources degree from the University of Idaho with an undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Weber State University.
Title: Great Salt Comprehensive Management Plan Update—Looking Forward
Abstract: The Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (“Division”) developed the last Great Salt Lake Comprehensive Management Plan (“GSL CMP”) over a three year period, from 2010 to completion in 2013. Importantly, the 2013 plan included the creation of a lake level matrix. This tool synthesized the collective knowledge of Great Salt Lake stakeholders to provide lake users, researchers, regulators, and managers with the ability to interpret impacts at various lake levels. Unfortunately, historically low lake levels reached in 2022 resulted in high salinity levels that led to a myriad of management and ecosystem challenges that were not accounted for in the lake level matrix nor the 2013 plan as a whole. The primary purpose of the GSL CMP is to guide the Division, along with other local, state, and federal partners, in managing, allocating, and appropriately using Great Salt Lake sovereign land resources. This amended GSL CMP will more clearly set forth defined management goals, objectives, and implementation strategies for guiding and directing future resource management actions, activities, and recreation uses on Great Salt Lake, along with adapting to the changing dynamics of the Great Salt Lake and management actions to avoid impacts to the ecosystem.