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