Press Release:
Hammerking Productions, the founders of The Griffin King of The Hammers Presented by Nitto Tire, are pleased to announce that the week-long off road festival held annually in Johnson Valley, CA will be able to continue in its current location for the foreseeable future. After six years of negotiations between the United States Marine Corps, the federal government and the Off Highway Vehicle(OHV) Community, a deal has been reached to preserve the majority of the land in Johnson Valley for OHV use.
Congressman Paul Cook spearheaded the deal which allows nearly 100,000 acres of land to remain open to the public and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Marines will have access to approximately 55,000 acres of shared use land for 60 days a year to meet their training objectives, but will not retain ownership of the land the remaining 305 days a year. The proposed legislation is expected to pass the House later this week and the Senate next week before the holiday recess.
From the California Association of 4-Wheel Drive Clubs:
Yes, I’d almost forgotten about this baby. I’m not as big a fan of the old Ford Bronco as I am of the newer one. Maybe it’s because the original Bronco was before my (off-roading) time. Back in the day, I was a big Ford fan, but my fandom was limited to Mustangs and Cobras. If it was blue and came with stripes, or Wimbledon White with two blue stripes … or, heck, even black with gold stripes and said GT350H on it I was in love.
More than 85,000 acres of magnificent desert are open for off-highway exploration and recreation within the boundaries of Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area. Ocotillo Wells SVRA is operated by California State Parks. To the south and east large tracts of BLM land (U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management) are also open to off-highway vehicles. The western boundary and part of the northern boundary of Ocotillo connect with the half-million acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which is closed to off-highway recreation, but open to exploration by highway-legal vehicles along established primitive roads.