Following months of work, two visits to Nevada by us and the two Scoping Meetings at which we presented in Gerlach and Reno - the Bureau of Land Management fully evaluated the proposal to run the cars on Black Rock Desert and issued a paper labelled 'Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision' on 15th August. The paper identified 21 conditions required of a permittee and made it clear that there was a finding of no significant environmental impact.

This week we have just heard that a series of environmentalist groups have protested the proposal to provide operational permits and under the BLM's rules the issue has to be referred to the Internal Board of Land Appeals in Washington - this procedure is expected to take 45 days or more - by which time winter will have settled on Black Rock. During this time no permits may be issued.

The environmentalist protesters appear to be: The Coalition for the High Rock and Black Rock Immigrant Trail, The Oregon California Trails Association together with the National Conservation Association, The Public Resource Associates with the Sierra Club - and Susan Lynn.

(Dust trail across Black Rock Desert)

The concern would appear to be primarily with the preservation of the immigrant trails which pass to the North of the Black Rock Desert and maintaining the ability of the devotees to follow the trails without 20th century impact. There is also a concern over the numbers of people that the LSR might attract - which might raise the annual level of regular visitors to a point where the environmental impact might be damaging.

So it looks as though the 1996 head to head is off - or is it? Whilst there is not much we, the visitors, can do in what is clearly an internal US matter, there is a great deal that the Spirit of America team and Shell can do: to petition for the protest to be heard quickly, or set aside until later in the year - thus enabling the cars to race and the petition be considered later. After all we have run there twice before in 1982 and 1983 and the BLM states that there was zero environmental impact.

(Black Rock Desert from a balloon)

Black Rock is the largest alkali playa in the US - it provides both the correct surface and the safety of the run off distance. We found that the Bonneville Salt Flats provided a very unpleasant surface when driven with solid tyreless wheels that seriously affected Thrust2's stability.

One of the great fascinations of record breaking is the huge number of political, physical, engineering and financial variables needed to be negotiated and satisfied before the speed can be achieved. As Craig has said many times before 'If it were easy everyone would be doing it'.

So, now who plays the next card?

The author of this article, Richard_Noble, is the ThrustSSC's Project Leader and held the World Land Speed Record from 1983 to 1997.

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