This is in reply to both the hut thread and this one
I am quite unusual (apart from the obvious) because I bushwalk, 4wd and ride dirt bikes in the bush. So technically I should hate myself. When I scramble along a narrow off trail ridge and set up my tarp in a secluded saddle alone I think to myself I’m so glad there are no trails up here. Now take 4wd campers. Most like the ability to get to out of the way places and set up camp at a quiet spot at the end of a trail that most cant traverse, and they think to themselves “I'm glad there is no tar roads up here”. We have seen on this site the furore when it is suggested that some of the more iconic roads are opened up to allow cars.
The more people that go somewhere the more chance it has of getting destroyed. Solo walking in off trail areas you find the land totally untouched. But as these areas become more popular it starts to show signs of wear. Lets take an example of a cave on a remote outcrop. If only a few people know about it and there are no trails then tho only people that visit it are the very keen so there is a good chance it will stay pristine. Lets say the NPWS see benefit in this and they make a formed trail to it, maybe put camp pads near it. Now it is accessible to a lot more hikers, so the chance of people leaving rubbish or Shitting close to camp increases. Now lets say there is a hard 4wd track to it. More people come. But as its hard only those that are keen and interested in the cave come and visit , you will start to see a bit more rubbish, and maybe some off track driving. As the road gets better the masses of 4wders turn up. And as the numbers increase so does the chances of idiots. More empty cans, fires lit in the cave , trees cut down for wood, maybe a few doughnuts. Then the road becomes 2wd, more people more chances of idiots, then eventually its trashed.
My recent trip to the high country showed me the worst of the 4wd kind.,
So you all need to understand, you are all the same, just as a bushwalker gets accused of being a greenie for not wanting 4wd’s, a 4wdver may be accused of the same for not wanting tar and car parks. The biggest threat to all of us are idiots and unfortunately they cross all streams…
Back on cattle. Any domesticated animal with hooves will cut up the land. Cows are stupid. I have them. They stand in my dams drinking and Shit, other than humans what other animal would Shit in his own nest. The high country we all love is not the natural high country. Pre the fires there was a canopy of snow gums with no understory then native grasses. Years of grazing removed the understory and allowed light through to the ground for the grass to thrive. First the cattle was removed, then the fires. They were so hot all the gums were killed but they regrow from their Lignotuber and soon regrowth occurs. Also opertunistic trees like acacia shoot up quick so you have the low mass of scrub you see now. Over many years the trees will regrow but without cattle there will always be an understory.
I live on the slopes of the Barrington’s. There are pigs, horses and cattle up on the plateau they to terrible damage, scotch broom has taken over the scrub and Phytophthora has spread to a large area.
None of us ‘genuine’ people want the bush destroyed and we want to enjoy it in our own way. So perhaps instead of the greeny/ redneck name calling there could be a more combined approach where each gives a little to gain a lot.
Sorry for being serious.
