Mike Nish, whose father, Terry, is in the Utah Sports Hall of Fame, said the tradition of racing needs to continue at the flats, but that is in question. 'This is really about stewardship,' Handy said. Handy reminded lawmakers of the 2016 joint resolution on the Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway that passed out of the Utah Legislature unanimously, urging restoration of the internationally famous raceway. University of Utah studies suggest that it is not only removal of the salt during the mining process that is causing harm, but other human activity as well that is hurting the salt flats. Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats was canceled for two consecutive years, and the natural track is still struggling in a decline that has played out since the 1960s. Swenson said a memorandum of understanding should be finalized by the end of the session. The private racing industry would kick in $2.5 million, as well as Intrepid contributing a portion. Under the accelerated schedule, the Bureau of Land Management would receive $45 million from Congress in a pass-through program administered by the state of Utah. 'We need to increase the scale of volume.' Mike Swenson, representing a speciality automotive equipment industry, said the salt lay-down project can't keep up. That program has been in effect since 1997, but Handy and others said it is overwhelmed. The idea is for Utah, flats manager Bureau of Land Management, private racing industry and others to form a cooperative effort to accelerate the 'salt lay-down' program by Intrepid mining, which returns the salty brine to the flats after it extracts potassium. Steve Handy, R-Layton, asked members of the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday to spend $5 million to leverage against a $45 million planned federal investment to save the world-famous flats. 'We know there are thousands and thousands of tourists who go out there.'

Bonneville salt flats events 2019