To Vintage Racer, John, Stainless, Chris and everyone else who has posted on this topic, I value each and everyone else's opinions as much as my own knowing that We all have the same goal: To Continue to have a place to race which is safe and of little or no harm to the environment or causing a nuisance to any surrounding population of people or Animals. As such, our racing community has done a remarkable job of not harming the Salt Flats and with that I might add that the majority of temporary damage that I have witnessed in my twenty years on the Salt has been by spectators not obeying the rules and driving where it is forbidden.
I am very fortunate to be living a dream that began with My first issue of Hot Rod Magazine in the late 50's and reading about The Dry Lakes and Bonneville.
I am also a Environmentalist and care very much about what footprint We leave on the Earth.
Each and everyone of us Has and is entitled to His or Her opinion on what needs to be done and how to do it. I believe that for the most part this is a serious discussion between responsible Adult's ALL trying to help resolve this issue. I thank Jon for providing us a venue to discuss all of our individual thoughts and opinions.
I also want to thank "Hot Rod" (Larry ?) for the many hours of research He has already done.
Opinions, both yours and mine, are just that... opinions.
Of course people in High Places peruse this site. Its no big secret. Of course they are defensive about sharing information. Of course they need ALL of our help. We are after all a Community of One, with a common goal.
The problem as I see it is that this topic and the problem of Salt Depletion from a National Public Property for the Profit of Private Enterprise has been debated for over forty years and with the exception of the hit and miss pumping of the last decade NOTHING has been accomplished to stop the depletion of Salt by Us or the BLM.
I am not trying to cry "WOLF" here as much as to try to get ALL OF US involved.
Now I am asking, HOW CAN WE HELP? Over the last few years we have been asked to write our Politicians, The Department of Interior, The BLM, our Club Reps,etc.
Now we are being asked to support Save The Salt (which if you have read my previous posts you know I support).
What I am not hearing from anyone is how can We help a cause for our common good when they are apparently secretive in achieving a solution to Our common problem.
Other than the Salt Pumping I know of nothing that has been accomplished in the last few decades by anyone and even those who have given their all like Ron Main has have been rebuffed by the BLM.
No one seems to have a answer. This issue needs to be brought to the forefront and dealt with now or STS has in my opinion very little chance of succeeding in its goal.
As a side note, although I am not running my car this year, I had planned on attending Speedweek and volunteering for help with the STS booth or SCTA to pick up garbage or any of the many thankless jobs that all of our volunteer workers perform at every event. My body doesn't always go along with my desires and I am now scheduled for knee replacement surgery in two weeks so I apologize ahead of time but will donate half of my anticipated trip expenditures to Save The Salt as well as donating as much as I can currently afford to this site.
We are all in this together and I will support any and all venues that actively seek a solution however it is hard to do in a atmosphere of secrecy.
In closing I want to thank all who have posted on this subject whether You agree with me or not, this has been a learning experience for all and at least hopefully made us all aware of how much We take for granted. Nothing lasts forever but if treated with love, care, and respect it can last a lot longer!
With regards and respect to all,
Bob Drury
