Amid urgent drought conditions across the West, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) this week reintroduced bipartisan legislation this week reintroduced bipartisan legislation to advance the scientific foundation needed to benefit saline lakes and their wetlands in the Great Basin, including lakes such as Lake Abert in Oregon and Great Salt Lake in Utah. Building upon scientific findings that saline lakes across the West provide interconnected bird habitats—as documented in 蜜柚APP’s Water and Birds in the Arid West report— S.1466, Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act of 2021 will establish a program within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to assess, monitor, and benefit the hydrology of saline lakes and the migratory birds and other wildlife that depend on them. In the arid West, saline lakes and their wetlands provide irreplaceable habitats that support millions of migrating shorebirds, waterfowl, and other waterbirds. Saline...