Happy Off-Road Trails for All?

Environmentalists and off-roaders, traditionally at one another’s throats over use of public lands, have joined forces to back an unusual park in Riverside County.

The $30-million state off-road vehicle park envisioned for 2,600 austere acres east of Moreno Valley would be the first created in California in two decades, officials said.

There are currently seven state off-road vehicle recreation areas, from Hollister Hills south of San Francisco to Ocotillo Wells adjacent to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

But Riverside County, where jumping on a dirt bike and heading for the hills is all but a birthright, has long struggled to open such a park.

The plan would create an off-road vehicle recreational area in the so-called Badlands, a region of bone-dry, undulating hills south of California 60 between Moreno Valley and Beaumont. The area is a dirt-biker’s paradise -- a sandy, wide-open playground within easy reach of much of Southern California, where the number of registered off-road vehicles has doubled in the last decade.

Backers -- including military contractor Lockheed Martin, Bush and Davis administration officials and dirt-bike manufacturers -- describe the plan’s chances of adoption as excellent despite the state budget crisis because it is widely supported by legislators and money is tucked away in a state trust fund.

About $7 million in state and county funds would buy and lay out the park, and $27 million would go toward buying a 4,000- to 6,000-acre buffer zone to protect wildlife and forestall development. Most of the money would go to Lockheed Martin, which owns much of the proposed project lands.

The theory is that setting aside a place to ride legally will curb illegal ridership elsewhere -- and the environmental damage that goes with it.

On a recent searingly hot Sunday in the Badlands, Dan Martin sat spreading mayonnaise on a roll with his Buck knife, and considered the question: Would opening a state park nearby for off-roaders keep him and others from cutting loose on their dirt bikes across private property? “Nah,” he said. “Variety is the spice of life ... and there’s so many ways to get in and out.”

Behind him, a handful of bikes and all-terrain vehicles whined and whirled through dust clouds. Other riders said they would happily pay a $4 entrance fee to ride legally.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Robert Patterson, 38, of Menifee, who moved to the Inland Empire with his wife and three young sons a year ago. All fell in love with off-road vehicles, a booming industry statewide.

A 1993 survey by Cal State Sacramento concluded that off-highway vehicle recreation generated more than $3 billion in economic activity statewide. Industry analysts estimate that amount has since tripled, even as desert land and other acreage available for riding have declined 48%, according to state parks officials.

The Pattersons have spent about $10,000 on dirt bikes, a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle and extensive safety gear, including helmets, thick gloves, chest protectors and boots, worn on even on the hottest days.

Patterson acknowledged that the whole family was trespassing in the Badlands.

“We try to find a place where there’s a crowd and blend in,” he said. “It helps to have cute kids when the sheriff comes by,” his wife said.

In just a year, many of the hills near their home have filled with new houses, and they’ve begun searching for other areas to ride. Like thousands of others, they heard about this spot via word of mouth -- in this case, a friend of Mike’s at his job in Commerce.

If a park is opened down the road, the Pattersons said they will be regular attendees.

“The boys’ mouths just fell open when they saw these hills,” said Jennifer Patterson.

Paul Spitler, an environmentalist who chairs the California Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Commission, had a similar reaction when he toured the area, but for a different reason: He’d never seen such extensive riding in, or damage to, a natural area. It changed his mind on the spot about opening a park to try to curb use elsewhere.

“I was floored,” he said. “And I’ve seen off-road vehicle areas all over the state.”

He and five other commissioners voted unanimously last March to earmark $27 million from the state’s off-road vehicle trust fund, which is fed by vehicle registration fees and fuel taxes, for a park in Riverside County.

Even if the project faces a smooth ride in Sacramento, it would not open for a number of years. Environmental studies are needed, along with construction of an entrance road, fencing, and other work. The endangered Stephens’ kangaroo rat and native plant species also live in the hills. But state and federal wildlife officials all seem ready to endorse it if they haven’t already, as part of the county’s ambitious plan to map out all growth and conservation lands for the next 30 years. “The stars are all aligned,” said Pam Milligan, a Riverside County lobbyist who has worked for 30 years to bring an off-road park here and who still cautions there are hurdles ahead.

The plan does have critics.

Among them is Howard Wilshire, a geologist who co-wrote “Environmental Impacts of Off-Road Vehicles” and who sat on the first California off-road vehicle recreation commission in the early 1980s. He said the idea that parks limit illegal off-road activity is simply untrue, and has never worked.

“I think it’s a bum idea,” he said of the newest park proposal. He said off-road vehicles should be “banned from all public lands.... The impacts are severe and very long-lasting.”

Others say stepped-up enforcement will be necessary to protect habitat outside the park from illegal riders.

Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle is ready. Armed with a state grant, he started a new enforcement unit in May, complete with four department off-road vehicles to chase miscreants. He plans to deploy as many as two dozen deputies at a time to clamp down on illegal riding in the future. Fines begin at $100, and unregistered vehicle owners face possible court sanctions.

“Most people are law-abiding citizens. You’ve got people doing something illegal because they’ve never really had anyplace to go,” he said.