agreed about commercial

activity , I don't want to see that either , all I want is to be able to ride in the bush without fear of a fine .
But what ! should we just throw our hands up give up and accept this with out at least chalenging this blanket ban on our sport?
Well Im not so here is my 00.2c worth at least its something.
You might think me naive but without a lobby and no voice of opposition NOTHING will happen.
Here is the letter I just sent to the Environment Minister Verity FirthDear Minister ,

Verity Firth re: NPWS TASKFORCE

Dear Minister

I am writing to you in support of your task-force for increased access to our National parks ,
I belong to a large group of men woman and children who enjoy the sport of mountain bike riding.

NPWS are at present closing down many of trails that we ride and issuing us with fines , on trails that in some cases have been used for decades.
I understand their charter and the reasons they want everyone it seems other than their officers access to the parks as an issue of protecting the environment.
What NPWS do not understand about the majority of MTB riders is that we have the same interest in protecting the bush in these Parks .

We are not vandals and we do not destroy the bush we ride in , we take our rubbish with us and the small footprint we leave from our tires is smaller than one foot on one bush walker , we could work together with NPWS and in that way they inevitably can have greater control of how the trails can be managed , e.g. closing them on rainy days like Manly Dam.

In Wales the riders pay a annual fee to the Parks employing a caretaker who builds and maintains them and this fee pays for toilet facilities etc. surely we can come up with a better smarter solution than what NPWS are implementing with a blanket ban on riders as it will not work anyway as the riders will still find a way to ride the trails creating confrontation with rangers and ill feelings.

We can be the ears and eyes of the Rangers and report dumped cars illegal 4 x 4 activity and generally keep an eye on areas few Rangers can get to via the fire trails.
If we could have access to trails legally we could contribute to the building and management of dedicated riding trails that would be sustainable and properly built erosion free.

The National Parks should be open to all to enjoy and not restricted to one group only
which if the NPWS gets their way will be the one group being Bush-walkers.

In Victoria the sport of MTB riding has been encouraged and embraced as a tourism cash cow ,
trails are built cared for and well managed with well built bike park areas constructed.
On any weekend through the Otway mountains and other areas you will see hundreds and hundreds of riders with the local cafe and stores doing a roaring trade from these riders.

It is a healthy sport has a very small environmental footprint and a great way to get kids off the street and away from
the pc /x box/tv generation lifestyle which is becoming the norm in what once was an outdoor orientated Australia.

Here on the Northern Beaches of Sydney we have vast areas of bush that we should be allowed to use but the access is increasingly being denied forcing us to consume more fossil fuel to drive further away to find legal trails.

I am one voice amongst many but if you would like to hear more and openly discuss this issue we have an open thread on this subject at
Northern Beaches Mountain Bike group
http://nobmob.com/node/5361#comment-16984

regards