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Follow up on Illegal Riding
Following up from this:
I spent quiet some time at lunch talking to the ranger this came from.
Regarding large group rides. Following the letter of the law, any group over 20 people should notify NPWS of their activities in any park. Any group over that that they stumble across without prior notification is risking a fine. While there seems some leeway on this it's probably best not to risk it, so I told them I could easily add something to our site that automatically sent NPWS a notice when that many riders signed up to a ride in their area. This seems worth consideration and they'll get back to us.
Regarding the other issues, the story is the same: they are woefully under-manned and under-funded and tied by current legislation.
It is worth saying that when someone builds illegal trails in National Park the Rangers have to spend countless hours searching for the culprits, removing it and fixing up the damage. Same time wasting occurs when someone vandalises their 'no bikes' signs.
They report any damage to superiors of course and this reflects badly on all mountain bike riders throughout the NPWS organisation. As I said before, thus undermining any work for legal trail access that is happening.
I explained to the ranger that fair enough - but people get easily frustrated and this boils over to taking matters into their own hands and building trails illegally as they don't see any progress toward a legal solution.
To this end I have been assured that any good news stories in this area will be relayed back to the community (us) so we can see what NPWS are working on when they are not fixing up the mess a select few idiots make. Don't expect miracles (it will certainly be years rather than months in which change occurs), but small steps are being made all the time.
Basically, please do not ride on illegal trails as it impacts all of us. I know it's annoying, expensive or sometimes impossible on all but special occasions - but a good day out of town on some of the trails out there would be much more fun and productive.
And finally - if you just cannot control yourself - have some common sense an limit building antics to private (ideally your own back yard)/crown/council land and leave NPWS land alone!
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Never knew about the rule about 20 riders. If an email could automatically be sent when 20 people subscribe to a ride then that'd be awesome and have us covered.
So rides like this could be a big revenue generator for NPWS
1 group of 19 and some other guy who we dont know? rules can seem a little silly sometimes but i know there is always a sensible reason behind them.
Rob where did the "group of twenty" come from and what are the implications?
The thing about all this is that there are tracks already out there that have been there for years (albeit illegal). NPWS could, if they wanted to speed things up and be really proactive, utilise the existing tracks acknowledging and managing them. Declaring ridable zones within the national parks could really be quite easy and straightforward. The policing penalties and fines would then apply to goons riding outside of these declared riding trails.
As we have done in the past, the MTB community would eagerly assist with the maintenance and communication of the legal activities.
Gosh...could it be that simple?
Ah, sorry, I didn't put that part up to begin as I wanted clarification but have added it now. Amendment is:
As for the common sense approach Craig proposes... this is a government department don't forget
Your idea is great...please please copy and paste it into a quick email to NPWS Northern Region ([email protected]) attention person(s) responsible for MTB access in Garigal and Kuringai. I have written my own email already. You can find more about Garigal NP at http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/....
Even better... CC the DECC Minister and your local MP
I'm not sure if an e-mail notifying them that a 20+ ride has been organised counts as gaining consent?
So we would be just informing them about an illegal activity, sending the MTBing reputation further down the gurgler.
No - the ranger said that all we needed to do was tell them. I guess approval is implied and they will get back to you if they don't approve.
I know in Glenrock, the 20 person thing is written into the POM. Pretty sure its in the Act as well.
Generally they don't have an issue with the groups, its more a way of controlling big groups that may pose a threat to the parks, and to control commercial activity in the park.
To be honest, I have never seen it enforced though.
May I suggest getting that in writing - A polite enquiry and return email would be fine. Staff in these organisations change, as do memories. If we want this commonsense arrangement to last past the current ranger's tenure then some documentation is in order. Perhaps it's overkill, but I reckon it's sensible risk management.
have to do the same thing you know - horses are 10 and I am fairly sure runners are 20 (I can ask my silly marathon running sister)
They said for horse riding you are supposed to have some sort of form at one of the meetings recently.. who knows, all just more red tape if you ask me!