I found this while looking for mountain bike related info on the DEC site;
$20,000 fine for driving on Bibbulmun Track
Thursday, 24 January 2002
Note: this is an archived article, and kept for historical purposes.
Driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle along a section of the Bibbulmun Track has proven a costly exercise for an East Cannington man.
In the Albany Court of Petty Sessions last Friday, Peter Allen Oldenhuis was fined $20,000 and ordered to pay $5899.16 in costs and a further $322.24 restitution for damage in relation to driving the vehicle on the track which is specifically designed for bushwalkers.
The Department of Conservation and Land Management charged Mr Oldenhuis following a report from a teacher in charge of a group of high school students from a Perth School who were walking the track through the D'Entrecasteaux National Park west of Walpole last December.
The Department's Chief Wildlife Officer David Mell said the students came across a 4WD bogged in dense vegetation on the north side of the track about 150 metres north east of the Long Point Campsite.
It was subsequently established that the vehicle had been driven from west to east along that section of the walk track for about 1.35 km, causing extensive damage to native vegetation, steps and retaining walls forming part of the track. The vehicle then deviated off the track and smashed through thick vegetation for several hundred metres before damaging a tyre and becoming stuck.
"The driver had not only damaged the track and the surrounding bush, his actions had seriously diminished the wilderness experience of walkers and jeopardised the safety of track users," Mr Mell said.
After extensive inquiries, the driver was charged with 20 offences of taking protected flora without a licence, contrary to the Wildlife Conservation Act and with driving on a walking track that was not approved for use by vehicles under the National Parks Regulations.
Mr Mell said the Bibbulmun Track was a clearly designated walking trail. It was an icon in the south-west and had a widespread reputation as an international standard walking track.
"Vehicles, including off-road and mountain bikes, are expressly excluded from the Bibbulmun Track," he said.
"The Department is building a dedicated mountain bike track that ultimately will extend from Mundaring to Albany. People in 4WD vehicles should be aware that information on driving on conservation land is available from local Department offices and over the Department's internet site,
www.naturebase.com.
"This latest conviction demonstrates that the Court shares the Department's concerns in relation to such matters and is prepared to impose hefty fines for offences of this nature."
