Future stewardship of the BSF

[Dakin Engineering]

Please vote AND comment.

Sam
#6062

[hotrod]

No the State of Utah should have stewardship of the flats.

http://works.bepress.com/robert_natelson/19/

[Milwaukee Midget]

I think the quickest resolution to restoration will be continued pressure on the BLM.  Here's why -

1. Intrepid is already under papers with the BLM/Federal Government.  If that changes, there will be a legal challenge, likely on the part of Intrepid, as to lease rights.  Changing land lords mid stream will only delay any possible implementation of any plan the Utah Alliance has put together.

2. If oversight changes hands, the whole dynamic changes from an international and national issue into a local one.  Those of us from Nevada, California, Oregon, Montana, Iowa and Wisconsin will have little or no political pressure that we can apply.  In short, the majority of us who race there will lose leverage.

3. There is no guarantee that Utah alone will have the political will, power, bankroll or inclination to go head to head with the mining industry.

4. Under federal oversight, legally, the BSF has a protected status as an area of Critical Environmental Concern.  While I think that the BLM has been negligent in their oversight, there is no guarantee that Utah will provide a similar status - and more importantly, why should they?

5. The International Speedway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which restricts actions that can occur on the salt.  Again, I think the BLM has been negligent, but again, there is no guarantee that local officials will do any better.

6. Sad truth of the matter is, if Intrepid shuts down, we're all screwed.  They own the laydown equipment.  Does anybody here really think the State of Utah would take them to court to fulfill even their minimum responsibility to replenish what salt they collect in Potash extraction?  Heck, no.  What you'd see is the classic "We're moving our operations" technique to extract concessions on oversight and tax relief from Utah.

So those are the reasons I've voted to maintain Federal oversight.  Our task is to see that the Feds do their job. 

[Dakin Engineering]

Please vote, even if you have no comment.

Sam
#6062

[bbarn]

The federal government has no business being involved in this type program. The state should have the rights to the resources that are contained within its borders and should use them as they see fit.

Those closest to the resource (BSF, Yellowstone, ANWR...) have the most to gain by the proper management of the resource. Having some bureaucrat from thousands of miles away understand the intricacies of the local landscape and culture isn't possible. If there is power to be had in it, it belongs in the hands of the locals.

The federal government's desire is to amass more and more power and control. They have proven time and time again that they don't have the tools to manage these programs effectively. Look at the failed large government programs (VA, Social Security...) and you can see the track record isn't good. Look at what they have done at the BSF already.

Who here can say that what the BLM has done at BSF is a successful program? If the goal was to move as much salt from the north to the south then I guess they were successful...

Utah has the most to gain or lose with the BSF. Wendover has a stake in the BSF even though it is in Utah. Local people in that area should be the ones that are screaming that their resource is being squandered. You think that some fat-cat bureaucrat 2,232 miles away has enough skin in the game to care what happens to a place he has never been or ever will be?

No sir, not the BLM and not any other federal agency has business being involved in these endeavors. The power of the people should be retained at the local level so that the use or non-use of the resources remain tied to the local economy and the future of the locals. Only then can we be certain that revenue generating potential of the resource will be balanced and nurtured for future generations to come.

Take a page out of animal husbandry, farming, ranching...they all understand that there is a finite amount of growing time and a limit to the resource they have. Getting the most out of it while sustaining its continuation is their goal. Federal agencies don't get that as they only see dollars and that is all that matters to them until it is gone.

 

[Milwaukee Midget]

7. Utah handed over management of the BSF to the feds in 1976.  I sincerely doubt the state wants to incur the cost of management again, nor do the taxpayers of Utah want to subsidize our hobby in order to line the pockets of Nevada casino owners.  In short, Utah washed their hands of it.

[bbarn]

7. Utah handed over management of the BSF to the feds in 1976.  I sincerely doubt the state wants to incur the cost of management again, nor do the taxpayers of Utah want to subsidize our hobby in order to line the pockets of Nevada casino owners.  In short, Utah washed their hands of it.

Utah needs to hand an invoice to the BLM for the cost of restoring it to what it was supposed to be when they took it over...Then they could privatize it, handle it as a municipality, appoint a BSF Board of Management...anything is better than what they've done. Maybe they need to annex it to Nevada?

[fordboy628]

Why is it that this thread has 234 views, and yet only 19 votes?

I "get it" that there are some folks checking the thread every hour, so that the number of votes will never match the number of "views".

But my math says:   234/19 = 12.315

I've voted and checked the thread once . . . . .

WTH?   

If you are taking a look, take a moment to vote, . . . . . . PLEASE.

 
Fordboy

[Milwaukee Midget]

Bbarn, I understand the perspective, but as a municipality or a privately held property, the only financial incentive to oversee it or manage it would be for extractive industry.

It's a salt pan, and it's already an engineered environment.

If racers want to race there, okay, but if they can't, it's still an extractive industrial basin that contributes to the local and state economy.

Think about who would serve on the board or government agency overseeing it.  How would they be chosen?  Whose interests would they ally themselves with?  Who, other than a mining concern, would have the capital to do anything else with it?

The racing community that utilizes it is primarily made up of volunteers working on a shoestring.  Our whole Speedweek brings in less money to the region than New Years Eve in West Wendover.

The only reason we have anything close to legal status at this table is the fact that the Bonneville International Speedway is on the National Registry of historic places, as declared by the feds.

Again, I understand the frustration, but changing the hierarchy at this point is more likely to damage our status - especially non-Utah residents such as you and me - rather than get us closer to an effort for reclamation.

As unsavory as the BLM may be to deal with, there are no indications that a community based authority will, given the opportunity and responsibility, take our concerns any more seriously, have the capital to oversee the BSF any more effectively than the BLM, or have the political will or strength to protect the Speedway.

I really think our best chance is holding the BLM's feet to the fire.


 

[bbarn]

All good points MM but my perspective may be a little different. I think that since all the hubbub over BSF has been raised, mining is likely to become non-existent sooner rather than later at B'ville.

I suspect that the BLM having its feet held to the fire (happening now even) is putting pressure on Intrepid to do something to correct the problem. I believe that when the BLM reaches the conclusion that it is about dollars and Intrepid didn't live up to the *cough* standard that was set out *cough* they will tell Intrepid they need to pony up the dollars for reclamation.

When that happens we will see Intrepid file for bankruptcy and dissolve faster than the racing surface at Bonneville. That will leave the BLM responsible for the reclamation expense. Being a bureaucracy it will take years for a plan, funds and process to be approved and administered. All the while - mining is over.

Fast forward a few years beyond that... I think the status of it being an international speedway - landmark - icon of the USA and the absence of mining sets the BSF on course to be an almost maintenance free facility. Racers do what they do - survey, setup timing, setup pits, bring in porta-potty...race, clean-up after themselves and go home. The other 50 weeks out of the year it is a visual expanse that visitors can enjoy the sheer beauty of.

That isn't expensive to maintain...it needs a guardian AFTER reclamation which isn't expensive.

Mining needs to stop, future mining needs to be canceled, the environment needs restored and it needs to be left alone - limited to activities the public can enjoy without harming that environment.

I am not a tree-huger or a hippie (not that there is anything wrong with being either of those but I do believe in responsible stewardship. If we don't act responsibly within our environment bad things happen. We have plumbing because we discovered long ago that we can't live in our own waste. Then we discovered that pumping it a few miles off shore isn't enough, neither is 20 miles. Treating it before it hits water is the most economical means of dealing with it and we are healthier for it.

Clear-cutting timber was the way to go years ago as it was economical. Now, we send in feller-bunchers that do multiple times the work as a single saw-man could do with little impact on the environment of the forest. Not only that, they selective cut the right size trees and replant what they harvest otherwise there isn't any future in logging.

What has happened at the BSF is pretty much a raping of the land. If it weren't for the racers screaming about it, nothing would be done to protect what is there. The BLM would have collected its 30 pieces of silver, the miners would have sold their goods and the Bonneville Mudflats would be left behind.

Someone needs to be the guardian for the area. Yes, the BLM needs to be involved but only to the extent they return it to its historical condition. Once that is complete - get out and stay out should be the new motto. If it is going to retain its historical significance and continue to exist in that context someone needs to become its true guardian - I can't see that being the role of the BLM.

"That's just my opinion, I could be wrong" -Dennis Miller

[crawford]

I feel the BLM is the only one with enough power to keep all of the organizations that use the Bonneville Salt Flats in check, whether its mining, filming or racing. The State of Utah really has not shown much of interest in the area, just look to the east at the toxic waste dumps just 40 miles from Wendover. The State of Utah and Toole county has always been about the revenue and really light on the preservation of our resourses, so I feel its the BLM, that has the biggest teeth.

[Stainless1]

The locals don't want the mining industry to go away... and I believe they will be there till the end of their current lease or until there is no longer any salt or potash to extract and sell. 
The BLM does not seem to want to hold the mining organization responsible for destruction, in fact the BLM believes that all that salt that has left in rail cars over the last 50 years or so came from the brine aquifer.  They think the salt is just naturally thinning the last 50 years although it didn't naturally thin for the thousands of years before mining.
Sure weather the last 2 years was a big factor, but was it such a big factor because the salt layer was too thin to handle it.  I recall having major storms come through and nobody broke through the crust, the salt dried quickly and a day or so later we were back to racing.

So who should manage the flats... that is quite the question with no easy answer.  Utah was allowing strip mining before they turned it over to the Feds.... Why exactly did they do that... was the money playing out... who knows.  The Feds just continued the game.  There was a lot of salt on the flats in the late 70s, there is a lot less now.  A lot of it is sitting in the ponds across the street. 
I hope the BLM feels the pressure and forces restoration of the flats... it would be nice if it happens in my lifetime
I guess I now have to vote...

[Dakin Engineering]

It is my view that the BLM should remain in control, with the following criteria; NO MORE mining leases or fees paid to the BLM.
In short, remove the financial incentive to destroy public land.
Let it be an albatross around their neck, they can only spend money to restore their mess.
The retirement of leases includes those held by the state of Utah.
And when Intrepid Wendover walks away from their mine, the federal government exercises Eminent Domain to return the mined Salt to the racing surface at the expense of the BLM.
The expense to come out of their current budget, no new funding to do the job they were supposed to do.

Sam
#6062

[Stainless1]

Sam, try not to live in Bernie's world... The BLM is a bureaucracy... it exists to maintain itself. 
Nothing happens in the government world without money.... and its eventual mismanagement. 

[Polyhead]

although it didn't naturally thin for the thousands of years before mining.

That's actually not true.  Geological record shows that he salt use to be hundreds of feet deep.  So, it has been thinning for thousands of years.  Now, if that rate has accelerated since mining began, I couldn't tell you.