Great Salt Lake supports a rich and dynamic biological system of regional, national and global importance. The amazing abundance of bird life at Great Salt Lake has earned its designation as a "Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve." Birds of regional, national and international significance are drawn to its 15,000 square miles of various water environments, remote islands and shorelines, and about 400,000 acres of wetlands. Every year five million birds from 257 different species rely on the lake to feast during their thousand mile or more migrations. While there, they enjoy a unique and safe sanctuary that supports numerous breeding populations. The ecology of life at Great Salt Lake is an extraordinary example of the rich web of relationships between land and water, food and survival.

Great Salt Lake is a terminal lake with no outlet. Over time lake levels and salinity change dramatically depending on the level and quality of freshwater inputs from the Bear, Weber and Jordan River systems in tandem with seasonal evaporation rates. The geography of the lake combined with man-made causeways, create a diversity of lake environments varying from the extremely salty North arm (almost 28%), to the nearly freshwater Farmington Bay. Such diverse water environments are connected to expansive playas, shorelines and uplands to create excellent habitats for innumerable plants, invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds.