The Brownfield Effect: When “Previously Disturbed” Doesn’t Mean “Recreationally Insignificant”
By Don Amador | Quiet Warrior Racing LLC
September 2, 2026
Most OHV riders
aren't sitting around reading environmental documents. I understand that. I've
spent enough years working on public-land recreation to know that most people
would rather be riding than reading a 500-page environmental document about a
transmission line, solar project, mine or other proposed development.
But there is a
planning issue emerging across the West that powersports and every OHV rider
should understand because it can affect where we ride, how we get there and
what those places look like in the future. I call it the Brownfield Effect. The
basic idea is pretty simple: “previously disturbed” does not necessarily mean
“recreationally insignificant.”
When a Road or Trail Becomes
Recreation Infrastructure
When energy
companies and other developers look for places to build projects, they
understandably look for areas that have already been disturbed by roads,
utility corridors, mining, agriculture, development or other activities. From a
project-planning standpoint, that can make sense.
If a road or
utility corridor already exists, using it may avoid disturbing a previously
untouched area. However, that same road may now be used as a connector trail by
OHV riders while a project planner looking at a computer screen in San
Francisco or New York City may see road-based energy corridor. Both are looking
at the same piece of ground.
Warning Signs
This isn't
about being against energy development. In fact, OHV organizations and the
powersports industry made a similar distinction in their 2024 comments on the
Bureau of Land Management's Western Solar Plan. While those groups can support
using industrially disturbed lands as a potential way to reduce conflicts with
recreation and other resources, they also warned that concentrating solar
development around existing transmission corridors could affect unpaved roads
and trail-based access to developed and dispersed OHV recreation.
That
distinction is becoming increasingly important. At Coyote Creek, a major solar
proposal raised concerns because of its proximity to Prairie City State
Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA). At White Rock, a proposed mine raised questions
about industrial development, truck traffic, dust, visual impacts and the
potential for the SVRA to become increasingly surrounded by industrial uses. Regarding
the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, concerns over the proposed Golden Pacific
Powerlink have focused attention on what happens when major transmission
infrastructure enters a landscape where open space, scenery and access to over
500 miles of motorized routes are placed in the project area. And now we have
Ironwood.
Ironwood: Look Beyond the
Tower
The proposed
Ironwood Transmission Line would stretch approximately 86 miles between Arizona
and California, including about 80 miles in California. The project would
involve a new 250-foot-wide right-of-way and construction of transmission
structures, access improvements, staging areas and other infrastructure through
the BLM’s Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.
The applicant
also proposes, where possible, to use existing access roads and trails
associated with the existing Southwest Powerlink, pipelines, highways and
county roads.
The Bigger Threat:
Fragmentation
There is
another issue OHV riders should begin watching: it is possible to change a
recreation landscape one project at a time. First comes a transmission line.
Then a solar project. Then another utility corridor. Then a mine. Then a
highway improvement. Then another industrial project. Each individual decision
may seem manageable. But eventually the landscape starts looking different. The
land may still technically be “open to OHV use,” but the quality and
functionality of the recreation experience can be substantially different. That
is what concerns me.
From Industrialization to an
“Industrialization Cascade”
A newly
published leadership paper from the Anza-Borrego Foundation examining the
proposed Golden Pacific Powerlink - https://theabf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Climate-Ledger-1.pdf
- Uses another term that I think is
worth remembering: “Industrialization Cascade.” The concept is that one major
infrastructure project can make additional development easier to justify or
construct, with each project being reviewed individually while the cumulative
transformation of the landscape becomes harder to see.
This Isn't About Being
Anti-Energy
The OHV
community needs energy, too. And in many cases, using previously disturbed
lands can be a smart way to reduce environmental conflicts. The answer isn't to
oppose everything. The answer is to plan better.
Before calling
an area “previously disturbed,” planners should ask what public uses have
developed there? And before approving
the next project along an existing industrial corridor, ask what the cumulative
effect will be?
The Bottom Line
Public lands
are constantly changing. That's why I believe OHV and powersports should pay
closer attention to the Brownfield Effect.
And when it comes to our public lands, the path of least resistance for
a project isn't necessarily the path of least impact for recreation. That's
something worth remembering before the next project comes to a riding area near
you.
# # #
Don Amador has
been in the trail advocacy, post wildfire recovery, and recreation management
profession for 35 years and served as former Chairman of the CA State Parks
Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission.
