Mountain biker taken to court

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 320, 23 January 1990, Page 1

Mountain biker taken to court

A test case of illegally using a mountain bike in Tongariro National Park is expected to be heard in the Ohakune District Court in March.

It will be the first time the law against using the bikes in the Tongariro National Park has been exercised. Conservation Officer Paul Dale told the Bulletin the Department did not want to talk about the case specifically at this stage but that there have been a number of people warned about riding on tracks in the park. He said mountain bikes are classified as a vehicle and as such are not allowed to be used off formed tracks in the national park. He emphasized that DoC does allow mountain biking on conservation land, but not in certain areas. He said the department actually encourages their use in appropriate places such ~ as in forest parks, where most mountain bike riders prefer to ride anyway. Forest park tracks, _ which are

often old logging tracks are much better suited to biking than walking tracks, he said. Mr Dale said in some

areas the use of the eighteen geared, knobbly tired bicycles was undesirable because of the damage to tracks they can cause. In some areas they are incompatible with other track users such as walkers and trampers, he said.