And demand for recreational uses of the lake is expected to grow, says the proposed Great Salt Lake Comprehensive Management Plan. Jeff Shields of Salt Lake City hunts ducks on the opening morning of duck season. Antelope Island sees about 360,000 visitors in an average year with use increasing, according to the Utah Travel Council. Another 600,000 visit Great Salt Lake State Park west of Salt Lake City. Close to 300,000 travel to Willard Bay, a freshwater bay of the lake north of Ogden used for boating and fishing.
Wildlife refuges also host good numbers of people.
About 35,000 visit Bear River Bird Refuge. Figures from Farmington Bay, a state refuge, show 48,644 visitors each year. The rest are birders or other recreators. Ogden Bay hosts 70,000 visitors a year, of which 28,000 are hunters. In 1996, an estimated 53,700 hunter days were spent on the lake.