Upcoming article in JPFreek Magazine

[Olaf]

 

[Greg]

Very well said Olaf, strange how Area BFE does compare to her personal use of the land she claims to care so much about.

You know what they say, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.... guess she better start building her fence!

 

[zukijames]

thanks olaf sorry your having neighbor trouble!

 

[Olaf]

She's one example of people across the country who are against recreational use of land.

 

[benjy]

Let me preface by saying that I LOVE Area BFE. If I only had one choice of places to wheel, BFE would be the place. The main idea of the article had nothing to do with BFE's neighbor... rather what was in the the last few sentences:

They (land use organizations) may win the battle from time to time but how many trails have they been successful in reopening compared to the amount that has been closed? How many areas have they saved from being closed? I continue to urge these groups to raise their dues, take a portion of that money and save it into a land acquisition fund so that they can purchase land when it becomes available, the way we have at Area BFE. That's how you win the war!

It doesn't seem, nor does the article imply that the fight for public lands is worth giving up. Rather we need to more seriously consider investing in private parks in the west as a back up plan. This idea is worth discussing.

If an organization invests so heavily in land, what happens when it is no longer financially feasible to maintain the property, or the organization becomes insolvent? We have now lost the land we have so much more invested in. Don't get me wrong, I try to always remember to stop at the ATM on the way through Moab for the donation box, but is what we (rock crawlers) have left there even a drop in the bucket to make BFE become profitable, or even an investment worth keeping?

What does an area like BFE cost to operate? How much potential revenue could be generated from such an investment?

Are there other areas like BFE that would allow for so much off road recreation in a relatively small area? Does anyone watch out for such areas to become available? It seems that land such as BFE would be less desirable, as most of the region could not be developed, but I'm also sure 320 acres does not come cheap.

 

[benjy]

Wasn't there a privately owned park back east that had to close recently? Tellico maybe? Does anyone know the details of that closure?

 

[Olaf]

All good questions. These issues are solved with succession and dissolution agreements. The owners of AreaBFE paid all of the bills the first couple years and as our support has grown we've had to put less money to pay basic bills each year. We have been trying to breakeven and this is the first year that we've done it. I would imagine that the amount of revenue depends on the city and events around a property. By the way, we never bought AreaBFE with the idea to profit, however, it would be great to generate more that we need for basic bills and maintenance so that we could invest it back into the property for infrastructure development (ie. water, power, waste management, "green" accomodations etc.)
My understanding is that the property that was closed wasn't "owned" by the people running the park, but rather leased.

 

[jinxspot]

further discussion on private land used for recreational purposes.

First off, thanks Olaf and all affiliated with Area BFE for a fabulous time at my first Easter Jeep Safari

I feel this place is by far a cut above the rest in promoting good things for our sport and reputation.

Benjy;
What does an area like BFE cost to operate? (Not that I need specif costs or want to talk money, but a list of what needs attention each month/year)
Are there other areas like BFE that would allow for so much off road recreation in a relatively small area? (since I have not lived here long I have no way of knowing where these hidden jems are or how you aquire them)
Does anyone watch out for such areas to become available? (I would DEF want to be involved in a group such as this esp for North UT, you would have a huge influx of people recreating each weekend in an area that lacks addequite trails like BFE)

Im a new transplant to UT and the questions listed above are some good ones in my perspective... I would think there are some hidden gems all over this state. I guess when I moved to UT last year I thought there would be several private areas to go wheeling and I haven't see any at all (except Area BFE and I already heard about it in magazines). Even if you had an opertunity to buy the property there must be some decent overhead to keep "private land" open to recreational use (liability and insurance is what that stands out to me). The private parks I've riddin in out east and in the south east have been quite profitable from what I gather. When you see areas that keep having land/trails shutdown, then the ever growing offroad population has no choice but to use these parks for excatly what they were made for "recreational use".

 

[Olaf]

Costs: Land payment, property tax, various maintenance and upkeep.
Where to find? How to find? State Trust Land and real estate listings.
Insurance: None because we fall under the State Recreational Use Statute. We mandate event promoters to have insurance and to name us as an additional insured.

 

[airforceret]

I enjoyed the article Olaf. Reminded me of a conversation (more like a debate) I had with a hiker a couple years ago. I got to hear about how my jeep was an environmental killing machine, destroying the landscape, and how it didn't belong out there killing their natural habitat!!! Needless to say I wasn't getting very far, until they went to hike off into the wild green yonder... and I hollered "stop right there for a minute" "check out your footprints" "I think you just went off trail and KILLED a bit of your natural habitat there! You should be more careful to "stay the trail!" I got a bit of a smirk... but I did notice as they continued to head out... they seemed to be a lot more careful about their steps!!! I often wonder if just maybe... it hit home that we "ALL" regardless the size of our environmental footprint... leave a mark on it... when we don't stay the trail!

I'll be in Moab later this month, and am looking forward to a day at BFE with my son and daughter in law! Thanks for sharing it with us, and we'll be sure to pack out what we bring in, and drop a kind thank you gift of gratitude in the bucket while there!

Roger

 

[Olaf]

Hi Roger,

Thank you for the response. I'll be back in Moab, May 16-20 and May 25-June 3. It's always nice to place a face to a name so let me know if you're around during those dates.

 

[scoutabout]

Wasn't there a privately owned park back east that had to close recently? Tellico maybe? Does anyone know the details of that closure?

Tellico is closed, but that's public land. The last one that made news would be Paragon in Pennsylvania. It was on a 25 year lease, and the lease was terminated and the property was sold. The land owner claimed the lease was terminated due to various breaches and violations of the lease agreement. The operators claimed it was just a ploy to close the park and sell the property for a nice chunk of money. Legally, the land owner won out and the property was sold. Another smaller park was later opened nearby.

While the private parks definitely have a place, look at the value AreaBFE brings to the 4x4 community, long term investing in such property should be the foray of private groups, not our "professional" land use organizations.

The most successful strategy remains cooperative participation with the management process rather than adversarial reaction to management decisions.

Recreational opportunity is only one of dozens of ways public land provides value to the country. System health and long term viability is paramount to any other services provided. This excuse can always be used for closure, whether or not it's "valid" in the eyes of this community.

Count the number of trail miles saved and restored by lawsuits and compare that to the number of miles saved and restored by our own users actively and aggressively participating in the management process as PARTNERS of land managers instead of enemies. The comparison isn't even close.

Some high profile examples include the work of MFFW in opening new routes, RR4W in preserving the safari trails around Moab, CC4x4 and the Hog Canyon system in Kanab, the cooperative work done by users in St George and Cedar City, Friends of the Rubicon, and on and on.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Good article.

 

[Olaf]

I couldn't agree more and in fact I have encouraged organizations to use some type of Cooperative structure.

 

[jackjoh]

The Southern Four Wheel Drive Association is running a money raising campaign to try and reopen TELLICO. Get hold of Ray Stanley at sfwda.org/reopen-tellico for more info.

Basically they are going to bring a suit against the FS.

I almost forgot. Greg Mumm of Blue Ribbon Coalition has a good article about this. They are at sharetrails.org.