Environmental Damage the big picture

Hi Tony,

Agreed, Nature is the problem lets destroy it (Onlykidding),

I think the biggest problem facing the Oz is overpopulation. If we had only 15 million instead of the bloated 20 something we currently have, we wouldnt be having these issues

There wouldnt be as many people trying to enjoy the great outdoors and a lot less pressure on the areas.

Cheers Wilko

I think when the majority of people refer to environmental damage that they are referring to damage done by us humans,whether it be by vehicles or otherwise, not damage done by nature. Cheers

Hullo Tony
Of course there are many more examples utilising a false premise, for example, the number of people killed involving car accidents vs those killed by an earthquake. Clearly nature won! Why worry about road deaths/injuries. Yer, right.
The false premise involves comparing the consequences following an act of choice - eg, driving on sensitive dune environments - vs those over which there is no choice - an earthquake, storm, volcanic eruption, etc.
So we can make a choice to defer using a track that will be severely cut up if we drive on it now rather than, if possible, use it in two days time when it has dried out sufficiently. We can choose to drive on dunes in a way that damages the vegetation that helps to hold it together during storms or we can avoid doing so.
Many people consider that the first option in the above two examples as inconsiderate, short sighted, stupid, even selfish. Unfortunately, in an increasing number of cases these choices affect others who have no say in the matter and result in losses to the wider (4wd) community due to increasing number of restrictions / closures, etc.
Rgds
Andrew

You maybe right, on a resent trip south we came across this.

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I believe the locals are very p***ed off with anyone who owns a 4wd and is not a local.

I also drove another road that day and it was very steep and cut to bits by moron's.

Where I worked years ago, they lost up to 5 sheep a week from idiots, we had to make the letterbox from hardened steel to stop the idiot's shooting holes in the mail and bread. Delivered once a week.

Go the gun laws, they haven't saved any people but hell the wild life and the signs can relax.

Thanks Tony, interesting thoughts, lead with the chin shall we?

I'm a regular vistor to the forests of SW Oz, especially around Blackwood and Walpole.

I've driven many goat trails in small 2wd and SUVs

Occasionally had 'issues' when meeting up with 'BIG MEN IN THEIR BIG TRUCKS'

Seen numerous bad mouthed bad tempered Oz beerguts churning up the fire trails 'for fun'. Fun that causes severe erosion and access problems for other (more respectful) NP users, and may hinder local fire/emergency people

Had several beerguts upset that my 2wd Mazda found it's way to 'THE BIG MAN SPOT' that they think is exclusively for bigots in their expensive fuel guzzlers, then they churn the track to make exit difficult for me

Of course you aren't endorsing that sort of 4x4 activity are you Tony? No, of course not.

The world is getting smaller, and we need to perhaps preserve and share what's left

Tread lightly

I dont think you can really compare our intentional damage to what nature does, nature does what it does but has a system where it recovers it's self and always returns even better, a beach erosion is normal and natural and MUST happen to keep the "cycle" going, cyclones are the same, even storms......
The damage we do does not ever self repair, we have to help it repair so hence we as people have placed restrictions on us to limit what damage we do....
Ever been in the middle of a cyclone ????? we have, the birds seem to know and just go "away" someware, the trees get smashed and stripped bare ...... within a few days fresh green shoots are starting on the trees, birds return, life starts all over again and it seems after a few years that it never happened......

If you have ever driven from the Coast to Paraburdoo/Tom Price through the Ashburton "flats" you will see the road has completely different "structure" to the grass, trees, soil and erosion on each side of the road, an old chappy from a station was showing me it all, the road they put in has up-set the flow of water both under the ground and on the ground and has up-set the balance of the land, every time i drove it i noticed it more and more (worked for the shire there) and had driven past it heaps without noticing it for 6 months before he showed me ........

Look at it like the old aboriginal people do, we get up-set when someone walks through our house with muddy boots, mud on my carpet, how dare they do that, move something in someone else's house and dont they get up-set yet we dont think twice about doing all sorts of things to the outside world, it is our house, keep it clean, respect it, tread lightly and be gentle to it as it is the ONLY house we have ............ would you hand your house over to your kids with it full of rubbish, holes in the floor, no roof ..... do you own a house and rent it out, the tennents trash it and you dont care ??? yeh right, so look after this house for our kids...

lol...well done TF, we know your secretly a greenie, this has to be the best reverse-troll post i've seen here yet..

almost as good as the pic on the top of 79884