If you presume the "right" to use the salt flats is similar to water rights, I think the racing use would be one of the senior uses of the salt flats as an organized activity.
Going all the way back to Ab Jenkins he was using the flats to set speed records in 1935, long long before the current mining leases were even a twinkle in someone's eye. Probably the only senior use would be the rail road right of way. Given the historical landmark designation, that places some serious obligations for preservation on the Federal Government just like everyone else. Try to tear down a building designated as an historical land mark and see what happens.
Bill Rishel tested the salt as a venue for racing in 1907
railway line across the Bonneville Salt Flats was completed in 1910 by Southern Pacific Railroad linking Salt Lake City and San Francisco.
First speed record set in 1914 by Teddy Tetzlaff
Potash extraction was the first commercial use of the Bonneville Salt Flats, and development of potash processing from Salt Flat brines was started by the Utah Salduro Company in 1917.
Ab Jenkins, driving a Studebaker, beat a special excursion train 1925
http://historytogo.utah.gov/places/historical_places/bonnevillesaltflats.htmlthe area's first use as raceway was conceived by publisher William Randolph Hearst in a publicity stunt. Hearst hired William Rishel of Cheyenne, Wyoming, to attempt a crossing on bicycle. Rishel completed the journey, crossing the salt flats in 22 hours.
Active neglect of their statutory responsibilities here is no different than the case law for pollution mitigation and restoration in other mining uses. There is a lot of case law for mining companies to "do no harm" regarding secondary impacts outside their actual mining claim.
http://www.rodauthority.com/news/potash-mining-threatens-bonneville-salt-flats/http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ut/salt_lake_fo/bonneville_salt_flats/pdfs.Par.16381.File.dat/BSF%20Area%20Map.pdfhttp://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ut/salt_lake_fo/bonneville_salt_flats/pdfs.Par.43019.File.dat/Bonneville%20Salt%20Flats%20FAQ.pdfhttp://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs135-97/PDF/FS97-135.pdf < - - - - NOTE this documents change area of salt crust between 1992 and 1993 (fig 3 page 4)
(it shows the mechanics of changes in salt due to extensive flooding tends to spread out salt crust to cover a larger area with a thinner crust. If true this recent flooding episode may take a few years to re-consolidate the salt into a smaller thick deposit as brief rains wash the extended salt crust back into the primary basin )
On the basis of model simulations, the loss of crystalline salt from the playa surface is estimated to be about 975,000 tons per year. The concurrent subsurface loss of salt in solution was computed to be 850,000 tons per year.
Uncertainties exist in the simulations because they were made from limited data, and these uncertainties contribute to simulation errors. The difference in computed loss of crystalline salt and salt transported through subsurface outflow of brine is within the acceptable simulation error.On the basis of model simulations, the loss of crystalline salt from the playa surface is estimated to be about 975,000 tons per year. The concurrent subsurface loss of salt in solution was computed to be 850,000 tons per year.
Uncertainties exist in the simulations because they were made from limited data, and these uncertainties contribute to simulation errors. The difference in computed loss of crystalline salt and salt transported through subsurface outflow of brine is within the acceptable simulation error.
http://saltflats.com/newsletters/BLM_GSL_2002.pdfPublic Land Order 852
On May 26, 1952, 8,927 acres of public land on that portion of the Bonneville Salt Flats containing the historical circular track was withdrawn from mineral location, and reserved for administration as an automobile racing and testing ground. The withdrawal, which was subject to valid existing rights, prohibited mineral prospecting, location, or purchase under the mining laws.
Prior to 1949, the circular track was the most popular track on the salt; however, when the Bonneville Nationals annual racing event began in 1949, the straight or International Track became the track of choice.
It is unclear as to why the International Track was not included in the PLO 852 withdrawal. The withdrawal expired in 1982 (Morgan, 1985, p. 6).
On December 18, 1975, 36,650 acres of Bonneville Salt Flats were officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. By virtue of this listing, the designated acreage was afforded two protections under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (P.L. 89-665).
• An assessment of the effects of such a project on the listed site will be made, and
• The head of the involved federal agency or department shall afford the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation a reasonable opportunity to comment on the proposed project.
These two protections must be implemented prior to expending federal funds for a proposed federal or federally assisted project that could have potential to affect any district, site, building, structure, or object that is included in the National Register:
Just a start --- google is your friend!
