By Russell Smith
Houston, MN
The OHV trail proposed for Houston’s South Park is extremely unlikely to yield any significant financial benefit for the community.
I’ve taught marketing and marketing research for 28 years, currently at Winona State University; I’ve also conducted a good deal of tourism-related research. Over the years I’ve seen my share of wrong-minded tourism development that degrades nature and disrupts communities, always with prior assurances of a financial payoff that never adequately compensates for the loss of natural habitat, the loss of a community’s quality of life and the loss of opportunity to pursue other more promising and suitable alternatives. An abundance of credible research on this topic has provided best practice do’s and don’ts for small town and rural tourism development. My recommendation for Houston’s OHV trail is ‘don’t.’
OHV recreation has rapidly expanded in recent years as a result of OHV manufacturers’ strong promotional effort and millions of dollars spent to lobby state legislatures to open public land to OHV trails; Minnesota currently has over 3000 miles of OHV trails with more being planned. OHV rider clubs and associations have fueled this growth with aggressive membership drives. The fly in their ointment is that OHV groups have to convince rural communities to turn their parks and public lands over to trail development. This is not an easy sell. Research has shown that people generally do not want to live or recreate near OHV activity, not to mention the push-back OHV trails get from environmentalists who are too familiar with the damage they cause.
Normally, we could expect the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to oversee the interests and well-being of all parties involved in this issue, but it seems that much of this oversight is being delegated to OHV clubs and associations, groups that now bill themselves as “experts” in trail development and management. Our problem is that these groups are now targeting the bluffs of Southeast Minnesota. As it turns out, this is highly desirable real estate. Bluffs provide more exciting trails that challenge increasingly powerful machines designed to penetrate deeper into rugged terrain. In order to achieve their expansion goals, club “experts” have assured environmentalist that the local wildlife will scarcely know they’re around. City councils and rural administrators on the other hand, are more interested in the financial payoff, and the clubs are only too happy to predict impressive economic benefits in order to close the deal. Problematically, these benefits may be overstated to say the least.
There are established methods that municipal and rural decision-makers and leaders should use to responsibly project the revenue potential for a plan such as the one now on the table in Houston. Although these projections are not perfect, they are far more accurate than any one or a few people’s inspired vision for an imaginary future. I’ve used a conventional protocol to the best of my ability to estimate an annual revenue of something between $10,000 and $20,000 that would result from Houston’s proposed OHV trail installation. I could be off a bit but not by much.
Next, there are costs that must be subtracted. One is the loss of other types of tourists who will be deterred by OHV activity. Nature and small town-friendly tourists (e.g., cyclists, hikers) already represent a growing visitor segment in Houston. This type of visitor engages in more discretionary spending, deliberately targets small town businesses, and actively avoids community disruption and environmental impact. I assure you that OHV activity will discourage these visitors. The evidence for this overwhelming. Period.
Also, attracting OHV riders requires more than simply building a trail; it requires other investments, amenities, and community accommodations. For example, users want to ride into and through the community to access community services. Ultimately, the remaining revenue flow to Houston would be minimal if not negative.
Unfortunately, it has become increasingly acceptable in our culture to deny data, facts, and credible information simply because we don’t want it to be true. Houston’s City Council has said they support this project because they “looked at the numbers,” but to my knowledge they have yet to make these “numbers” available to the public.
Details for the information I’ve provided above are available at: www.saveourbluffs.com/resources
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