Letter: Mosquitos are not a “nuisance” — they are essential food for the birds of Great Salt Lake
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) An aedes (ochlerotatus) niphadopsis mosquito is pictured under a microscope at the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District on Thursday, April 17, 2025.
The Tribune’s article about mosquito abatement around the wetlands of Great Salt Lake failed to consider that this is habitat for 10 million migratory birds, in addition to bats, fish, and other creatures that depend on a diet of insects to live.
Birds depend on the mosquitoes of Great Salt Lake to fuel their migrations across hemispheres, some of them 4,000 miles long. Mosquitos are not a “nuisance” — they are food.
If we find them bothersome, we might ask ourselves if it’s appropriate to locate a major airport, the state prison, an inland port, business parks, and residential neighborhoods so close to an area of critical environmental importance. Short answer: it isn’t.
Rachel White, Woods Cross
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