Social Inquiry

 Managing public lands:

Track Care WA and the Holland Track
Jim Macbeth

The purpose of this webpage is to illustrate some aspects of the role of Track Care Western Australia in the management of public lands used by 4 wheel drive vehicles. A case study of the Holland Track in WA's goldfields is used, including some photos taken during a field trip in 1998. A more comprehensive discussion is to be found in the paper entitled "The role of non-government organisations in restoring and managing outback tracks in Western Australia" delivered to the annual conference of the Ecotourism Association of Australia in Margaret River, WA, in late 1998. The Abstract of that paper follows and the full text can be downloaded as an Rich Text Format document.

Track Care Western Australia, Inc., whose logo appears below, was incorporated in 1998. Track Care initially arose out of concerns about the conditions on the Canning Stock Route - rubbish, track damage and general environmental damage, overhanging trees, cutting of 'live' firewood and inappropriate signage. This led to a major effort in 1998 and significant work was done on the CSR, including the new 'Durba Dunny', restoration of wells, clean-up of rubbish and so forth.

Track Care WA has a broader brief in relation to "Caring for the heritage tracks of Western Australia" and thus is involved with a number of tracks and with 4wd issues generally. The Constitution lists the objects of association as:

To provide a programme of management and environmental protection for off-highway tracks in Western Australia;
To provide an education programme for track users;
To promote the conservation of the natural environment;
To liaise with land management authorities and other interested parties with similar objectives;
To promote Four Wheel Driving as a responsible recreational activity.

Track Care WA works closely with government departments, including DOLA and CALM, along with organisations such as the Keep Australia Beautiful Council and the Four Wheel Drive Association of WA. It is directly affiliated with TreadLightly! Australia.

My involvement with Track Care began because of my interest in the work being done on the Canning Stock Route in 1998. I was particularly interested in the amount of time, money and effort being volunteered by 4 wheel drivers from all over Australia for the restoration of wells and the clean up of the Stock Route. As events transpired, I was not able to do research directly on the Canning Stock Route but was able to do a much shorter field trip on the Holland Track (HT).

The Holland Track is managed by the LandCruiser Club of WA under the auspices of Track Care. Similarly, the Woodlines Track area is managed by the 4Wheel Drive Club of WA. More detail of the track can be obtained from the Holland Track Map Book published by Westate Publishers in Perth. This book also includes a short history of the Holland Track.

The photos in this website are included to reflect the field trip and some aspects of the countryside. As the HT was dry, no major problems were encountered in traversing the track. The purpose of the trip for the LandCruiser Club was their biannual clean-up and reporting convoy. Their main purpose was track clearance of fallen trees to allow the main track to be used and for side tracks to be closed off. I flew to Kalgoorlie and joined a vehicle from the Goldfields office of CALM. Mick Coulter and I drove down the Victoria Rock Road and across the Banker Mount Day Road to intercept the Holland Track and the LandCruiser Club convoy. Following is a 'slide show' of illustrations from the field work on the Holland Track that gives some idea of the geography of the remaining 4wd section from near Hyden to Victoria Rock, southwest of Coolgardie. The photos actually follow the round trip of the CALM vehicle from just outside Coolgardie on the Victoria Rock Road to the Holland Track itself and back to Kalgoorlie and the 'Super Pit'.