{"id":5731,"date":"2009-10-13T21:51:29","date_gmt":"2009-10-14T04:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/?p=5731"},"modified":"2013-02-01T10:05:14","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T17:05:14","slug":"save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Save The Salt: Preserving a Legendary Race Track"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrideisme.com%2FBlog%2Fsave-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track%2F&amp;media=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrideisme.com%2FBlog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F10%2FWorld-Finals-2009-49-199x300.jpg&amp;description=Save+The+Salt%3A+Preserving+a+Legendary+Race+Track\" class=\"pin-it-button\" count-layout=\"none\" rel=\"lightbox[5731]\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/PinExt.png\" title=\"Pin It\" \/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button_count\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"horizontal\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\" data-via=\"myrideisme\" data-text=\"Save The Salt: Preserving a Legendary Race Track\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Save The Salt: Preserving a Legendary Race Track&amp;body=https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/icons_small\/email.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Email\" title=\"Email\"\/><span class=\"mr_small_icon\">Email<\/span><\/a><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\" data-text=\"Save The Salt: Preserving a Legendary Race Track\" data-desc=\"Bonneville Salt Flats: \"Save the Salt\" With all the Bonneville Salt Flats racing coverage and stories from MyRideisMe.com, maybe the most important story is the behind the scenes one, which is the \"Save the Salt\" program.\u00a0 Please follow along as Larry Volk (Chairman of the Board) and the Save the\" data-image=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/World-Finals-2009-49-199x300.jpg\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div><h3>Bonneville Salt Flats: &#8220;Save the Salt&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-5737\" style=\"margin: 4px; border: 2px solid black;\" title=\"Bonneville Salt Flats Legendary Race Track\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/World-Finals-2009-49-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"Bonneville Salt Flats Legendary Race Track\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/World-Finals-2009-49-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/World-Finals-2009-49-99x150.jpg 99w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/World-Finals-2009-49-400x602.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/World-Finals-2009-49.jpg 531w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/>With all the Bonneville Salt Flats racing coverage and stories from MyRideisMe.com, maybe the most important story is the behind the scenes one, which is the <a title=\"&quot;Save the Salt&quot; website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.saltflats.com\/save%20the%20salt.html\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Save the Salt&#8221; program<\/a>.\u00a0 Please follow along as Larry Volk (Chairman of the Board) and the Save the Salt\u00a0Board Members\u00a0provide a history of the Save the Salt Program and how important it is to the future of Land Speed Racing at Bonneville.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">What is Save the Salt?<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It has come to our attention that there are a number of folks out there that are not fully aware of what our Save the Salt organization is all about.\u00a0 To that end we have comprised the following brief history of when and why Save the Salt was formed.\u00a0 We hope this tells the story &#8220;In a Nutshell&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to Mary West (Secretary of Save The Salt) for putting this history together and thanks to JoAnn Carlson (SCTA\/BNI Office) for forwarding the note to us from a gentleman who is a new competitor at Bonneville.\u00a0 He said that he knew Save the Salt was important but he wondered what it was.\u00a0 By the way, he sent a donation along with his inquiry.<\/p>\n<h4>Save The Salt, a brief history:<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">During the (1930-1940) era the Bonneville Salt Flats was able to support the weight of 10-ton twin-engine streamliners that roared down the 13.5-mile long Race Courses. The Hot Rods roared onto the salt flats in 1949 with the first Speed Week event and have run every year since.\u00a0 Of course a few years were missed due to weather.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">By the early 1960&#8217;s the pioneers of Land Speed Racing began to notice subtle changes in the surface of the raceway.\u00a0 There were discussions of why the surface seemed to be getting weaker and that this unique body of land was shrinking.\u00a0 We were able to get only as much as 7 miles of decent salt for our courses, if we were lucky.\u00a0 It wasn&#8217;t long before fingers were pointed at the mining industry on the south side of interstate 80.\u00a0 Owned by Kaiser Chemical, their operations covered some 50 sq. miles of the salt flats.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Rick Vesco, our first chairman of Save The Salt, spearheaded the effort to meet with Utah State and Federal Government officials as well as the Chemical Company to resolve the problem of salt depletion.<br \/>\nThe goal was to return the salt that was accumulating in their settling ponds at the mining facility to the Raceway.\u00a0 These early cries for help continued until 1989 when the Save the Salt Organization was founded and struggled to achieve recognition as they began to see the heavy toll the mining industry was taking on the salt flats.\u00a0 In the meantime Kaiser Chemical had sold the operation to Reilly Chemical and a new 20-year lease for mining had been signed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The once healthy 18 plus inches of salt had become so fragile that the Race Courses had to be moved farther and farther east.\u00a0 Running on the long International Race Course was no longer possible.<br \/>\nReilly Industries was forcing water through canals crisscrossing the flats into their evaporation ponds from which potash was extracted.\u00a0 It was estimated that the process was taking an estimated 850,000 tons of salt from the flats each year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The Save the Salt Board has members from the Southern California\u00a0Timing Assn (SCTA) \/ Bonneville Nationals Inc (BNI). and Utah Salt Flats Racers Assn (USFRA).\u00a0 This group was able to negotiate a restoration agreement in 1997.\u00a0 Working hand in hand with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Reilly Chemical Co. they began to work together to return salt from the ponds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The Lay down Project was to reverse the process by pumping brine water back onto the salt flats at the rate of 1.5 million tons of salt each year for 5 years. The BLM, Reilly Chemical and the Racers embraced the plan. It was a giant step forward with Government and Industry working together.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">From the beginning of the pumping project racers began to notice changes in the surface.\u00a0 By the end of the 5-year pumping plan the racers were able to get back to running on the old International Course.<br \/>\nThough not as long, there was a noticeable difference in the hardness and durability of the racecourses and on a few occasions we were able to get as much as an 11 mile course.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Once again the Potash Plant has been sold.\u00a0 Intrepid Industries is now the owner and has shown an interest in our quest to have a healthy Bonneville Salt Flats and a strong racecourse surface.\u00a0 They\u00a0showed their support by once again starting the pumping process the first of February 2005.<br \/>\nWe commend them for their efforts.\u00a0 The Save the Salt Board is committed to working with both the BLM and Intrepid Industries.\u00a0 While there is still a lot more to be done, our vigilance appears to have paid off, not just for the racing competitors but also by preserving this historical natural treasure, The Bonneville Salt Flats, for future generations to come.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Latest Update:<\/p>\n<p>I made a trip to Intrepid Thurs. Feb 26th to see just how well the pumping was doing, talked to Russ Draper he told me that they started the pumping on Mon 2\/23\/09. As of Wed 2\/26 they had pumped 25,000 tons of salt on to the flats. The brackish water that is being pumped has 23% salt, this is about the maximum that the pumps can handle.<br \/>\nRuss indicated to me that because of the trouble they encountered with the brackish well pump, they would not be able to pump as much as they would like to because they will need to start their production, he said he will keep us informed as to how much they are able to pump.<\/p>\n<p>I took some pictures for every one to put on their websites.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks: Larry<\/p>\n<h4>Anyone wishing to contribute to the Save the Salt fund may do so by mailing to:<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Save The Salt<\/strong><br \/>\nRuss Eyres<br \/>\n3673 Millikin Ave.<br \/>\nSan Diego, Ca. 92122<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Technical Advisors: Rick Vesco, Bonner Denton, Gordon Hoyt, Duane McKinney<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Save The Salt Board:<\/strong><br \/>\nChairman: Larry Volk<br \/>\nSecretary: Mary West<br \/>\nTreasure: Mike Waters<br \/>\nBNI, Roy Creel<br \/>\nSCTA, Mike Cook<br \/>\nUSFRA, Gary Allen<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5747\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"&quot;Save the Salt&quot; brine pumps\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump3-150x112.jpg\" alt=\"&quot;Save the Salt&quot; brine pumps\" width=\"150\" height=\"112\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump3-150x112.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump3-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump3.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-5748\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"Pumping Brine back onto the Salt\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump5-150x112.jpg\" alt=\"Pumping Brine back onto the Salt\" width=\"150\" height=\"112\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump5-150x112.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump5-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump5-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/pump5.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrideisme.com%2FBlog%2Fsave-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track%2F&amp;media=&amp;description=Save+The+Salt%3A+Preserving+a+Legendary+Race+Track\" class=\"pin-it-button\" count-layout=\"none\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/PinExt.png\" title=\"Pin It\" \/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button_count\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"horizontal\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\" data-via=\"myrideisme\" data-text=\"Save The Salt: Preserving a Legendary Race Track\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Save The Salt: Preserving a Legendary Race Track&amp;body=https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/icons_small\/email.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Email\" title=\"Email\"\/><span class=\"mr_small_icon\">Email<\/span><\/a><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/save-the-salt-preserving-a-legendary-race-track\/\" data-text=\"Save The Salt: Preserving a Legendary Race Track\" data-desc=\"Bonneville Salt Flats: \"Save the Salt\" With all the Bonneville Salt Flats racing coverage and stories from MyRideisMe.com, maybe the most important story is the behind the scenes one, which is the \"Save the Salt\" program.\u00a0 Please follow along as Larry Volk (Chairman of the Board) and the Save the\" data-image=\"\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div><p>Email Bonneville Salt Flats: &#8220;Save the Salt&#8221; With all the Bonneville Salt Flats racing coverage and stories from MyRideisMe.com, maybe the most important story is the behind the scenes one, which is the &#8220;Save the Salt&#8221; program.\u00a0 Please follow along as Larry Volk (Chairman of the Board) and the Save the Salt\u00a0Board Members\u00a0provide a history [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[19],"tags":[2584,2511,967],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5731"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5731"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5770,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5731\/revisions\/5770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}