Now this is a scary thought. Anybody know anything more?
John Beckett
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marsha Terry" <mterry@enol.com>
To: <usfra@saltflats.com>; <salt@ivic.net>; <ofice@scta-bni.org>;
<landspeedracer@email.msn.com>; "Brian Hawthorne" <brianh@inconnect.com>
Cc: "Brian Hawthorne" <brianh@inconnect.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 1:22 PM
Subject: IMPORTANT:Possible Salt Flats Issue
> I hope the subject got your attention. If I'm writing to the wrong
> groups I apologize in advance. I did an internet search for groups
> associated with racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats and your
> organizations were part of the results. Let me introduce myself. I am
> one of the Vice Presidents of the Utah 4 Wheel Drive Association. My
> focus for this organization is on land use issues. Utah is the center of
> many land issues right now and if my source is correct the salt flats is
> slated to be one of those issues very soon.
>
> The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is an environmental
> organization. In their efforts to "save" the land their main focus has
> been off highway vehicle access and stopping that access to public land.
> In Utah that means BLM lands. SUWA currently has a proposal before
> congress that would close 9 million acres of public lands to any
> mechanized recreation. These are lands that don't qualify for Wilderness
> according to the Wilderness Act. These lands are wild places which are
> criss-crossed by numerous roads and trails that the people of Utah have
> been using for generations. I don't know how familiar you are with the
> wilderness debate so I don't want to bore you. If you need more info
> please let me know. SUWA has been frustrated in their efforts to get
> their Wilderness bill through Congress so they are making an end run.
> They have filed a lawsuit which is asking the court to force the BLM to
> close those 9 million acres to motorized access. In essence if Congress
> won't pass their Wilderness bill they'll try and force the issue with
> lawsuits.
>
> What does this have to do with salt flats racing? Well SUWA has a few
> lawyers on the payroll and I guess they are getting bored. One of those
> lawyers named Steve Bloch paid a visit to the Salt Lake Area BLM office
> this past week. He was asking very pointed questions about the impacts
> of racing to the Bonneville Salt Flats. My question to you is...why
> would a SUWA lawyer want to know the impacts of racing on the salt
> flats? Knowing what I know about SUWA this doesn't bode well for your
> sport. This is just a heads up in the hopes that all of the groups which
> use the salt flats will get together to fight any threats to your sport.
>
> If the groups that use the salt flats are not already organized can I
> recommend you put this on a fast track. Chances are your organizations
> will be fighting some difficult battles in the near future. There are
> organizations in Utah that can help you. USA-ALL is probably the best
> equipped. Brian Hawthorne is the Executive Director and the person you
> would want to contact for more info. He can be reached at
> brianh@inconnect.com.
>
> Good Luck in what lies ahead
> Marsha Terry
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