Not Everyone's Happy About King of the Hammers' New Proposed OHV Trail
A bunch of residents in California's high desert take issue with the no-bid contract in particular.
New OHV trails are good. Full stop. I know many long-time RideApart readers will likely scoff at that coming from me, but if you haven't noticed, I enjoy dirt riding more than any other type of riding or driving. Off-road is where my heart lives .
But I'm also not just someone who wants a trail everywhere. Roadless areas are where I hunt . Roadless areas are where wildlife and flora thrive. Roadless areas are good for our world , as they're where our water goes to filter, our air gets cleaner, and where you won't hear the distinct obnoxious noise of a 2-stroke—although there are times when I love it. See, you can love something and not want it everywhere. Nuance! I know the internet wasn't made for it, but we're gonna have that discussion.
So when I read that there's a new OHV travel corridor set to be built between Needles and Barstow, California, by the folks at King of the Hammers , I was intrigued and wanted to know more, and went looking. What I found was interesting, to say the least, as the county that encompasses both cities and the span between them recently approved the route, as well as gave KOH $250,000 to build it.
But residents have questions, not least of which is why it was a no-bid contract, and why taxpayer funds are going to a private business.
Nuance
The contract was awarded to Hammerking Productions, the official company behind King of the Hammers, which will develop an OHV route from Barstow to Needles, California. According to the Hi-Desert Star , "The county's elected board of supervisors unanimously agreed Tuesday to fund Hammerking Productions' project. The contract was approved as part of the consent agenda — a list of actions authorized by a single vote."
And that fact, along with the development contract itself being a no-bid contract, i.e., a contract given out to a single developer without others being even considered, has rubbed a number of the area's residents the wrong way, which is understandable.
According to the reporting, Hammerking Productions will receive $250,000 of taxpayer funds for the route's construction, and residents are wondering why the company is getting the money, while others are asking about the contract itself. "I certainly, as a taxpayer, don't think a quarter-million dollars of our funds should be going in a no-bid contract to a private company that stands to make a profit from this project," said Chris Carraher to the Hi-Desert Star , adding, "I don't know why they're not funding it themselves."
"It's just another example of something with high significance to our community with no real notice that this is happening. … We are not a sacrifice zone. Please do not transfer this money to a private business," replied Catherine Powell, another local resident who spoke to the outlet.
The no-bid nature of the contract should also be noted, as in recent months, other no-bid contracts across public lands and within the federal government have come under fire, as the companies tasked with certain projects have had no prior experience doing such projects—for example, the National Mall and the reflecting pool projects. What we can say is that at least Hammerking Productions knows what goes into an off-road trail.
However, it's unclear whether or not the development of said trail will fall in line with other public lands projects that the current administration has proposed, in that scientific and environmental review will be pushed aside in the name of fast-tracking projects that supposedly "improve" public access .
According to the outlet's reporting, the actual nature of the contract, however, could be more theoretical than physically altering the landscape, as Hammerking will "evaluate opportunities to connect existing legal routes, public lands, communities and opportunities for OHV recreation between Barstow and Needles." That makes it sound like Hammerking is just gonna look at onX Off-Road and all the OHV trails and then suggest to the county which ones they should connect. Whether or not that's the case is still unclear.
But again, a new OHV trail is a good thing, so long as it follows all the rules to ensure we're not just willy-nilly destroying the landscapes you like to see when you're on those trails. Nuance!
