The Impacts of Off-Road Vehicles in the Coorong Dune and Lake Complex of South Australia

The management of off-road vehicles (ORVs) being driven in areas of natural or seminatural vegetation has become a subject of great concern in the coastal areas of North America, Australia, and New Zealand (Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Off-Road Vehicles, 1977; Crozier et al., 1977; Gilbertson and Foale, 1977; Godfrey et al., 1978; Hall, 1975; Hozier and Eaton, 1980; Robertson and Wood, 1977; Steiner and Leatherman, 1979; Welsh, 1975; Wood, 1978). The widespread ownership of four-wheel-drive vehicles and trail bikes for normal work or travel purposes in a large cross section of the rural and urban communities of Australia has led inevitably to extensive use of ORVs for recreational purposes. Increasingly, such activity is enjoyed on sites such as abandoned quarries or forestry plantations often close to urban areas, where the magnitude and frequency of use can be managed by state officials or private owners to ensure maximum enjoyment and minimum damage.