Thread: att all 4wders. urgent petition req action now

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

I , personally, would like to see the Simpson Desert National Park closed to all 4wd vehicles apart from fully accredited tour operators who would be the only ones answerable to damage etc.

I too am sick of people who leave their rubbish and generally trash the environment. However, I would not want the solution to be that I have to pay thousands of dollars to go on a tag-along tour.

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

regardless of whether its a minority or not, if the damage being caused to National Parks by inconsiderate campers is creating a problem, then there only few options....raising fees to cover maintenance costs or closing the parks to 4x4 vehicles/campers whichever is the problem. I , personally, would like to see the Simpson Desert National Park closed to all 4wd vehicles apart from fully accredited tour operators who would be the only ones answerable to damage etc. This may well be the answer in Victoria which doesn't stop people from seeing the national parks , only the mode they get to see it from. Btw, there are very strong reasons for my desire to close the Simpson if you who have been through are not aware. Den

If I'd had to go on a guided tour I never would have gone into any desert in the first place! To many people it's about freedom and getting away and relaxing, a guided tour is only very slightly more desirable than a bus tour. Times I've been to the Simpson I haven't seen any rubbish, On our last trip we took a look at the Canning and found out there are idiots who think they can simply dump their rubbish in the many old discarded 44 gal drums, (like the council will be through next week to empty them) unfortunately nobody else had the room to take OTHER people's rubbish out but there are no excuses for not taking your own, after all it fitted when you brought it in.
I guess you could look at it as close the track to visitors or maybe the drums should be taken away. Oh and by the way Track Care WA do a great job, if not for them the CSR might already be closed.

In the context of what we're talking about here, the Simpson is no different to just about any other place in the country. The same problems exist almost anywhere you care to look.

So if we only let people into the Simpson under the supervision of "accredited" tour guides - what next ? It's the thin end of the wedge, and the "accredited" tour guide industry will simply use it as an excuse to further their own interests. We've seen it all before in other industries (you only have to look at the rorts going on in the workplace safety and training "industry" to see what I mean).

If you really want to live in a nanny state - this is the way to go.

I'd rather we retain our freedom to get out there and enjoy the country in our own time, without some ****** who's done an "accredited" course looking over my shoulder and telling me what I can and can't do, where I can and can't go etc.

There will always be those who live and behave like pigs - they need to be educated in the correct ways of doing things, be that from community attitude towards them, or by prosecution and severe penalties for not doing the right thing if that is what these pigs need. If someone is found to be leaving rubbish / making a mess out in the bush - transport them back to civilization, confiscate their 4WD / camping equipment etc. They'll think twice about doing the same again next time. Might seem harsh to some, but I'm all for it. Grow some balls and fix the problem - don't let the actions of a few ruin it for the majority who do the right thing.

The classic that I've read about lately (on this forum) is in Europe, where you are not allowed to change a flat tyre if you are driving a hired or leased vehicle. They remove the jacks / tooling etc so that you can't. This is the sort of "nanny state" mentality that we really don't need here, but we are slowly headed down this path. It all seems to start in our capital cities and grow from there ................

Ok, in September last year, we spent 2 weeks in the Simpson with a local guide who grew up in the area. We may have into areas a lot of people don't go which probably exacerbates the problem. If you've spent time there you know that you stop between major sandhills of an afternoon to camp. There are signs asking you to remain within 50 metres of the track. There are also signs asking you not to remove deadfall and old trees and shrubs and reasons given. But no, everyone encroaches further away from the track....why.....because close to the track there is no timber left for campfires.....so they break 2 conditions of park entry.....camping further in off the track and destroying more trees and shrubs for their campfires....it is clearly evident.....the next one is rubbish.....we found cans and bottles jammed up many animal burrows to hide them. no concern that is habitat for the many beautiful animals that live around the shrubs....we took out a couple of garbags of cans and bottles.....the next one is moving on the mornings we found campfires still smouldering.....no comment needed here....and the last one is windrows.....why the **** do ******* have to do donuts in the precious surface of the saltpans......on every saltpan we crossed this has been done.....and it goes further out as each ****ing idiot wants to put his mark there...when it rains water only accumulates a couple of inches deep in most of these "lakes", the windrows cut into the surface never level out and recover because wind driven sand builds up on the edges and alters the surface of a lake that has been like that for thousands of years.....the water table is affected and so every environmental factor in the area is now changed......there were broken eskies, even broken camp chairs, left behind. The last one is human excrement....every one of you who has been across the Simpson had a number of ****s on the way....did you read the recommended way to do this in the park entry permit? Its there for all to read.....Conditions of entry and use of the park are clearly noted on the entry permits which contain good reasons for and explanation of the entry conditions.....people are choosing not to bother complying so I say close it .

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

Ok, in September last year, we spent 2 weeks in the Simpson with a local guide who grew up in the area. We may have into areas a lot of people don't go which probably exacerbates the problem. If you've spent time there you know that you stop between major sandhills of an afternoon to camp. There are signs asking you to remain within 50 metres of the track. There are also signs asking you not to remove deadfall and old trees and shrubs and reasons given.

Interested to know where you went, where others don't go, hope it wasn't 50m off the track?
I agree totally about the rubbish. As for the circle work, well it's simply a sign of stupidity, why would you give your vehicle a harder time than necessary then there's the increased fuel consumption. And the amount of luggage I've seen on peoples roofracks, (sometimes on lifted wagons on 35" tyres) it's surprising anybody carrying on in such manner can keep their vehicle upright
To me it seems there are just too many doing the "out doors thing" these days.
Sorry can't agree that either closing it or having to go on a tagalong tour with some "accredited guide", modelling himself on Roothy or "Mr 4X4" accompanied by 20 or so "likeminded individuals" who feel the need to constantly air their well informed opinions (gained from reading 4WD action for the past 12 months) around the campfire of an evening is the answer. I'd rather pay higher fees and enjoy my peaceful nights.
I do agree though that numbers will need to be limited in some way, I've been hoping the 4WDing craze will soon die out and things will go back to normal.

All I saw was an invitation for the public to put in their submission (thoughts) on the Impact study in writing to the Victorian National Parks.
If the proposal really worries you that much, write to the aforementioned body as they have invited you to do and state your feelings.
One "invited input" submission is worth thousands of signatures on someone else's thoughts.
If you sign a petition of any sort, for any cause, ensure that the body that has requested your signature is asking for what YOU really want and not pushing an agenda of their own, using an emotive title to get you in on their side.
The only thing that signing a petition does is swell the conceived membership of the body that actually makes that submission, and they may not necessarily put forward the message that you feel so strongly about.
Personally I usually refuse to sign other people's petitions but instead make my own submission where and if I see fit.
Regards
Glen