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| SEMA and the “Save the Salt” Coalition are working with government officials, mine operators and others to develop a permanent program to replenish the salt at Bonneville Salt Flats. |
Founding members of the Coalition include SEMA, the SEMA Action Network, the Bonneville Nationals (BNI), Save the Salt Foundation, Source Interlink Media, Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) and Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA). Doug Evans, executive vice president of Source Interlink Media, has been named chairman of the “Save the Salt Coalition.”
“The Bonneville Salt Flats is an essential element of American motorsports heritage,” said Evans. “Since 1949, Hot Rod magazine has covered the August speed trials and worked with government officials to permit continued racing. The legacy of land speed racing covers every imaginable type of vehicle, from hot rods to jet cars and electric cars to motorcycles. These efforts are a proving ground for new technological achievements in power plants, composite materials and aerodynamics.”
The BSF is a unique geological formation that is also central to the history of motorsports and the industries that support motorsports. Scores of world land speed records have been set on the densely packed remnants of a huge pre-historic lake. However, decades of salt removal by an adjoining potash mining operation have damaged the BSF. Originally 96,000 acres in size, the BSF has been reduced to about 30,000 acres and those lands are threatened unless the salt removed to extract potash is then returned to the BSF.
The Coalition is seeking to protect the BSF and permit continued mining. For more information, please visit the “Save the Salt Coalition” website at www.savethesalt.org.
Questions can be directed to Stuart Gosswein, SEMA's senior director of federal government affairs, at stuartg@sema.org.