Urge Congress To Support Bonneville Salt Flats Restoration

If you value the Bonneville Salt Flats, then take a second to consider reaching out to your congressional representatives and make them aware the salt crust is declining.

Begin press release:

Another AMA Land Speed Grand Championship, also known as the Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials, just wrapped up on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats. First-timers experienced the spectacle and thrill of the event. Veterans returned for another try, and records were broken. While the excitement continues, nearly everyone in the motorcycle racing world is aware that the salt flats are not what they used to be. And corrections must be made soon.

The thickness of the salt crust has been declining since the 1960s, when the U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued mining leases that allowed brine to be removed for potash extraction. The leases did not require the salt byproduct be pumped back onto the flats. The international race course-once 13 miles-has been reduced to no more than 8, threatening Bonneville’s status in the world land speed competition.

A test program by the BLM and the mining company demonstrated that pumping 1.5 million to 2 million tons of brine onto the flats annually could significantly improve the salt thickness and racing surface. Increasing the present rate of 400,000 to 600,000 tons per year to 1.5 million tons or more would require extensive pumping infrastructure improvements. And the funding for those improvements requires Congressional support.

We’ve made it easy for you to make your congressional representatives aware of the problem and become part of the solution. and complete the contact information form offered. By doing so, your name will be added to our prewritten letter, urging each of your federal elected officials to support the funding needed to increase the brine being returned to the flats. You can, in fact should, read the letter before you hit “Send.”

Thank you in advance for contacting your members of Congress on this important issue. Please forward this alert to your friends and ask them to comment as soon as possible, as well.

Now more than ever, it is crucial that you and your riding friends become members of the AMA to help protect our riding freedoms. More members mean more clout against the opponents of motorcycling. That support will help fight for your rights-on the road, trail and racetrack and in the halls of government.