Thread: DON'T LOCK AUSTRALIA UP

I was on Broomes cable beach last week,the only stupid thing I and three hundred other people on the beach saw was two dumbarse's in 4wd utes spinnings thier wheels and acting like fools,on the back windscreen were big 4WD Action stickers with Bundy rum stickers either side.Say what you want but I've looked at the 4wd action site and it's full of tossers,I wonder why they've locked it out for members only????. Pat

Originally Posted by PAT303

I was on Broomes cable beach last week,the only stupid thing I and three hundred other people on the beach saw was two dumbarse's in 4wd utes spinnings thier wheels and acting like fools,on the back windscreen were big 4WD Action stickers with Bundy rum stickers either side.Say what you want but I've looked at the 4wd action site and it's full of tossers,I wonder why they've locked it out for members only????. Pat

NOT A GREAT ADVERTISEMENT!

Hate to say it, Im sick to death of Clubs, Committees, Focus groups & politics but the only way your going to be of any help is to support a political lobby group put your money where your mouth is and join a 4WD association, they are all bitching ******* too but better than supporting some 4WD mag tossers by buying a T Shirt

Australian National Council Four (4WD) Wheel Drive Australia

And if your one if those ******* that gets every square inch of their 4Wd covered in mud to show off in the School Pickup queue, for F's sake use your brain & wash your bloody car before anyone sees it.

If I think your a ****** imagine what the greenies think, no wonder they want to close the bush.

The biggest cause of damage to tracks anywhere is the weather. I've lost count of the number of times that I've driven along a track on saturday, camped when there has been a big storm that night, and driven back along the same track to find large sections of it gouged away by the rain. I think the term for it is soil erosion for the scientifically minded. It's obvious that no cars have driven it since us the day before. If left unchecked, the gouges get deeper with the next storm. Pretty soon the only people that can drive it are guys with 37" tyres. All dirt roads everywhere need maintaining. Traffic along them loosens the surface and allows the erosion to happen quicker...it's why they invented bitumen. I think Tank's comment about lack of money for maintenance is the most correct. Forget the green bogey man. The firies have to drive these tracks in emergencies and the less disturbed they are the more likely the gouges aren't too deep.
If we want the tracks left open then we should be prepared to do some maintenance on them. In most cases all that is needed to satisfy most 4 wheelers are a few little play areas near the tracks where they can get the cars dirty. The real jewels are the lookouts etc that they lead too. NPWS would welcome regular maintenance efforts by responsible 4wd organizations...I hope. There may be legal issues. It should earn brownie points big time.

Originally Posted by mikehzz

The biggest cause of damage to tracks anywhere is the weather.

I disagree, its primarily bikes and 4wders that stuff the tracks up.

Theres a track I know about that never , i mean NEVER gets maintained, I doubt the DSE even know its still there, Its just as good to drive on now as it was when I first found it 30 years ago. Nobody uses it because its not part of a network of tracks and its not worth spending half a day to get to a track that only goes a few miles.

We have other tracks that I used to like going on too but since the advent of 4WDing as a popular pastime they have been totally stuffed up by the urban cowboys that come home in a mud caked procession, theres your "soil erosion"

If we want the tracks left open then we should be prepared to do some maintenance on them. In most cases all that is needed to satisfy most 4 wheelers are a few little play areas near the tracks where they can get the cars dirty. The real jewels are the lookouts etc that they lead too. NPWS would welcome regular maintenance efforts by responsible 4wd organizations...I hope. There may be legal issues. It should earn brownie points big time.

Good Idea !!! In Victoria we have this thing called the VAFWDC , Victorian Association of Fourwheel Drive Clubs, there has been an "Adopt A Track" scheme going since the 1980's where a group of responsible 4WDers are doing just what you are promoting.

check this out, the DSE even officialy consult with the VAFWDC re track closures & maintenance.

9.3.4 in the document

Otway Forest Management Plan

Yes,the grading of tracks and other work done by the Victorian association,is probably the only good things to come out of Victoria in the last 100 years

They are talking about adopting similar strategies here in NSW,which I believe is a good thing,as long as they enforce the laws against those they find breaking them.

As far as erosion is concerned,no matter where it is,there will always be some sort of erosion,after all,nature shaped the surface of the earth this way.
Some areas will be more prone than others,due to the type of surface material,and to climatic conditions.No matter where you drive,and in what weather,the fact that you drive,walk,ride a bike or a horse,you are adding to the erosion factor.Having been involved in 4wds since the early 70's,I have lost count of the amount of places,we have been locked out of,because some person in an office in a city,who has never been in the area,put a red pen stroke through it and closes it off forever.These areas were classified as too worn and eroded,a long time before big tyres and high horsepower 4wds were available,so these sorts of arguments ,don't stack up.
It seems to take a natural disaster,like a large bushfire,to make authorities realise that with no vehicular access that they can't do what needs to be done in these times of crisis,and that maybe having the tracks opened and maintained,by either an authority or being adopted by a 4wd club/association may not be a bad thing.This has been taken up in Victoria and seems to be working well,and hopefully it will be adopted around the country.It is no use locking everyone out of the bush,as it will eventually be consumed by the urban sprawl,as an ever increasing population spreads far and wide.

Whilst it makes for an entertaining DVD, if you think that 4WDA behave acceptably and don't needlessly damage tracks in 4WDA DVD #156 then you have different standards to me.


Moving on from 4WDA, there's plenty of places I've been that you can only get to by 4WDs or bikes that have litter and toilet paper strewn around so there's no shortage of "tossers" in the 4WD & bike communities. Bad behavior (track damage, littering etc) just gives bureaucrats excuses to close tracks. Liability issues, the cost of maintaining tracks and ever present "efficiency dividends" also add momentum to track closures.

Originally Posted by goingbush

I disagree, its primarily bikes and 4wders that stuff the tracks up.

Well it's bikes and 4wd's driving on them when they shouldn't that causes maximum damage for sure.

On major roads like the Birdsville track, they close them off so that the road doesn't get damaged while it is already in a bad state after inclement weather. It isn't possible to only close off all the little fire trails on a temporary basis when the weather is bad, so they hit it with a sledge hammer, close them permanently and problem solved.