Permits for off-road events frustrate racers, opponents
11:13 PM PDT on Friday, September 9, 2011
Phil Klasky and Dave Cole are on opposing sides of the debate of whether off-road racing is appropriate on public lands in Southern California. But both agree they don't like the way the BLM is charging for off-road racing permits.
Klasky, a longtime desert racing critic from Wonder Valley, east of Twentynine Palms, and member of Community ORV Watch, is upset that federal officials did not charge promoters of a February off-road race in Johnson Valley the full cost of overseeing the event.
Critics have long contended the BLM favors off-road fans, and this is just the latest example of cutting racers a break. The fees are intended to protect pristine areas of the desert, racing critics complain, and without them the BLM doesn't have the money to mitigate environmental damage caused by off-roaders.
Cole, meanwhile, said he is worried higher fees will kill off-road racing in Southern California, which a dedicated group of people enjoy. The BLM, he explained, is pricing off-roaders right off public lands.
Federal officials began charging more and requiring increased manpower at off-road races following an August 2010 crash in Johnson Valley -- east of Victorville -- at the California 200. Spectators were allowed too close to the course, and eight were killed when a racer's truck went out of control and flipped into the crowd.
The first large event after the new rules were imposed was the King of Hammers, held in February. The promoters, Hammerking Productions, led by Cole, paid the BLM $27,560 for police and technical staff used to monitor the off-road race. Officials estimated the true cost at $43,390.
"Any good business knows what it costs to do business," Klasky said, criticizing the BLM for not getting the full amount.
BLM officials acknowledge they did not charge the full cost to monitor the race. But they said King of Hammers was a unique situation.
"They (Hammerking) were one of the first to pay cost recovery, and BLM did not have the required time to provide them with accurate cost recovery amounts," BLM spokesman Stephen Razo said in an email. "We negotiated the cost recovery amount with them and let them know there would be no concessions in next year's amount, which has already been calculated at $45,000."
Razo said the difference between what Hammerking paid and what the event cost the BLM was covered by fees generated from other state recreation permits and money collected for filming permit costs.
"Zero dollars came from taxpayers," Razo wrote.
Klasky called the BLM's response "hocus-pocus accounting," noting that the permit money the BLM collects is used often to restore and rehab areas affected by off-road racing.
"If they spent this on King of Hammers, they didn't spend it on something else," Klasky said.
He said efforts to get the BLM to police off-road use of public lands has long been a challenge.
"In my view, the BLM has not been concerned about recovery in the past," Klasky said. "And it appears they still are not that concerned, even through they said they would be."
Fewer races expected
But the effect Klasky is seeking, namely to curb off-road racing, still might occur. The BLM will collect more money under its new policies, but fewer promoters will likely apply to use BLM land, off-road fans and race organizers said.
Cole, executive director of Twin Peaks-based Hammerking Productions, said he plans to continue promoting races in the High Desert. But the added costs are making it difficult for many race organizers to go on.
"Two years ago it cost $1,600 for the permit," Cole said. "We'll pay it, but I don't know how many races there are going to be if the permits cost $30,000 or $40,000."
As costs rise, smaller promoters will have to increase entry fees, Cole said. "And then it is still a crapshoot if we can bring in the revenue."
Higher entry fees will reduce the number of competitors, which will in turn reduce the crowds, Cole said. Though King of Hammers has a large following and has major sponsors in the off-road business community, Cole said absorbing costs is tough.
Even some of the largest off-road promoters faced challenges after the California 200 crash. Citing cost increases, SCORE International -- one of the major players in off-road race promotions -- canceled its annual race in Primm, Nev., and moved its major fall event to San Felipe, Mexico. SCORE spokesman Dominic Clark said the decision was based on higher costs for liability insurance, imposed by owners of the resorts in Primm, to use space around the casinos.
"SCORE has always had a tremendous working relationship with the BLM and SCORE has always been held to higher and more stringent (regulations) by the BLM," Clark said in an email.
He added promoters would like to return to Primm, if possible, in the future.
Cole said cost increases are not the only challenges that race promoters face. Officials have moved spectators farther from the race route. Though it keeps spectators safer, Cole said it hurts the popularity of the sport. Fans demand up-close access.
"They are not going to keep coming back, and the event will die," Cole said.
The hope, he added, is that the BLM can work with off-road race promoters and fans to safely encourage the sport where it is allowed on certain public lands.
"The reality is Johnson Valley is exactly that," Cole said. "It is meant for these things. That is my favorite place to recreate on the planet and we're working at it and trying to make it the best."
New So. Calif. desert race fees roundly disliked
Off-road critic Phil Klasky tells the Riverside Press-Enterprise (Above) that promoters of the first race since the August 2010 accident paid under two-thirds of the actual cost of monitoring the event.
He says that reduced the amount of funds available to mitigate environmental damage from off-roaders.
But Hammerking Productions executive director Dave Cole, who produced the February event, says fees have become significantly higher than those paid before the accident and could soon start hurting the races' popularity. He says higher fees will reduce the number of competitions which will mean fewer fans.