Scary.? Yes. Inevitable continuation of erosion of individual
liberties....
.............frightnig thought.
...............DK.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Beckett wrote:
>
> 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
|