Derby in Tassi

birddog69

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I pushed to get some trails, first at Latrobe back in 2013 and been working with the Latrobe and Kentish councils ever since. Pretty happy with how it all turned out.
Sheffield Way is all dried out now but will need so work to make it winter proof. It's just a shitty flat area with poor drainage. Raising the trail bed will help there.
There's 4 new trails that are almost ready to go above Gnarvana. A climb trail that takes up up to the already open Blue Tongue which then takes you further up to Kimberley's Lookout, the highest point of the Range. There's a blue descent that comes back off Blue Tongue not too much further up from where the climb meets Blue Tongue and it descends all the way back to the Gnarvana/Woodhooker junction (I may end up being names as two separate trails). Then there's a black that starts at almost the top of Blue Tongue and drops into the new blue descent with a shorter double black option. They will open in a couple of weeks time and we will get a sneak peek at them for the Tas Gravity round on the 4th of March.
Then there's the trail around the ridgeline above Echid'n Me (technically it's is still part of the Badgers Range not Bonneys tier), that's an adventure trail that will be around a 10km loop. There's parts that have to be hand built due to the steepness and the rock. This is under construction right now.
There's also a few special additions in the works as well that will get announced in the future.
That's great to hear! We had a blast up on the North West trails last November. Lots of good accommodation from Latrobe across to Penguin, coffee shops, cafes. The riding is great and varied. Just a bit too far for an overnighter from Hobart but will head back up in the Spring.
 

Cheka

Likes Bikes
I pushed to get some trails, first at Latrobe back in 2013 and been working with the Latrobe and Kentish councils ever since. Pretty happy with how it all turned out.
Sheffield Way is all dried out now but will need so work to make it winter proof. It's just a shitty flat area with poor drainage. Raising the trail bed will help there.
There's 4 new trails that are almost ready to go above Gnarvana. A climb trail that takes up up to the already open Blue Tongue which then takes you further up to Kimberley's Lookout, the highest point of the Range. There's a blue descent that comes back off Blue Tongue not too much further up from where the climb meets Blue Tongue and it descends all the way back to the Gnarvana/Woodhooker junction (I may end up being names as two separate trails). Then there's a black that starts at almost the top of Blue Tongue and drops into the new blue descent with a shorter double black option. They will open in a couple of weeks time and we will get a sneak peek at them for the Tas Gravity round on the 4th of March.
Then there's the trail around the ridgeline above Echid'n Me (technically it's is still part of the Badgers Range not Bonneys tier), that's an adventure trail that will be around a 10km loop. There's parts that have to be hand built due to the steepness and the rock. This is under construction right now.
There's also a few special additions in the works as well that will get announced in the future.
Thanks for the info. Looks like another trip is required or maybe just pack up and move down!
 

teK--

Eats Squid
In recent weeks riding the trails we ran into someone who who was carrying our surveys to document the inappropriate logging activity. Some of which extends well beyond the approved areas. Something really stinks in local government there.

For more info and to support: https://www.bluederbywild.org/
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
It's a tricky one to guage correctly as there are inaccuracies in the information on both sides. Yes we really shouldn't be logging old growth forest but we also need timber and it is a renewable resource.
The whole area around Derby has been logged throughout it's European settlement history, you only need to look around when out on the trails to see the old stumps with the notches from back in the old crosscut saw days of timber harvesting.
I honestly think that the timber industry is regulated enough. They have far more freedom than the average farmer when it comes to environmental disturbance and compliance. On the other hand the anti logging groups will often use images of harvested plantations as evidence of the destruction when it's really no different to a farmer harvesting their crop, it just looks more of an eyesore.
A balance really needs to be found so that forestry practices are truly sustainable without loosing more native forrest.
 

tobbogonist

a registered member
Booked a 1 week trip with Escapegoat Adventures to Derby for the start of November. 3 in Derby, 1 Blue Tier/Atlas, 1 Blue Tier/BOF and 1 St Helens.

Looks like I'll get a little Derby fix this year after all :p
November 3rd you say, looks like I'm going to have to find a strategic location trailside and moon you as you go past.
 

tobbogonist

a registered member
Nw coast of Tassie. Near Smithton. I don't know a lot about the logging process here as I've been in Vic some time and was busy paying attention to their atrocities.
 

Ackland

chats d'élevage
It's a tricky one to guage correctly as there are inaccuracies in the information on both sides. Yes we really shouldn't be logging old growth forest but we also need timber and it is a renewable resource.
The whole area around Derby has been logged throughout it's European settlement history, you only need to look around when out on the trails to see the old stumps with the notches from back in the old crosscut saw days of timber harvesting.
I honestly think that the timber industry is regulated enough. They have far more freedom than the average farmer when it comes to environmental disturbance and compliance. On the other hand the anti logging groups will often use images of harvested plantations as evidence of the destruction when it's really no different to a farmer harvesting their crop, it just looks more of an eyesore.
A balance really needs to be found so that forestry practices are truly sustainable without loosing more native forrest.
And correct me if I'm wrong but I'm fairly certain that the fact that the logging coupes exist provided assistance with getting environmental approval for the trails in the first place
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
And correct me if I'm wrong but I'm fairly certain that the fact that the logging coupes exist provided assistance with getting environmental approval for the trails in the first place
Yes, it would have definitely made it easier for the trails to be constructed due to them being in a working forest. I know from personal experience that getting trails built in a state reserve is much harder and heaven forbid, in a national part almost impossible.
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Yes, it would have definitely made it easier for the trails to be constructed due to them being in a working forest.
Not sure where the overlap zones are but Derby is mainly big old trees :oops:

I have not read into it too much as here in SA, a load of trails are/were built in working forests.

We still have Prospect Hill, Gate 19, Kersbrook and Kaiserstuhl to name a few that spring to mind.

Can only think that the reason they were built there was that Forestry were just 'growing trees' to cut down and didnt mind MTBers riding there. NP's, Reserves, Conservation areas etc, do not want bikes through their land/area - though we do have access to a quite a few in SA thanks to the hard work of many.

Its been all part of the deal... ride yer bikes here but we are coming for those trees at some stage in the future, there will be a thinning session that will make a mess of the trails, but can be rebuilt. Then the big cull usually trashes the whole joint up.

Tassie might meet with some resistance for building bike trails in future logging zones... unless well compensated for lost revenue.
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
Not sure where the overlap zones are but Derby is mainly big old trees :oops:

I have not read into it too much as here in SA, a load of trails are/were built in working forests.

We still have Prospect Hill, Gate 19, Kersbrook and Kaiserstuhl to name a few that spring to mind.

Can only think that the reason they were built there was that Forestry were just 'growing trees' to cut down and didnt mind MTBers riding there. NP's, Reserves, Conservation areas etc, do not want bikes through their land/area - though we do have access to a quite a few in SA thanks to the hard work of many.

Its been all part of the deal... ride yer bikes here but we are coming for those trees at some stage in the future, there will be a thinning session that will make a mess of the trails, but can be rebuilt. Then the big cull usually trashes the whole joint up.

Tassie might meet with some resistance for building bike trails in future logging zones... unless well compensated for lost revenue.
Yes, I can see their being some hesitancy in the future with Sustainable Timbers with MTB trail applications on land they control.

Back when Derby was being planned it was the days of Forestry Tasmania and they funded tourism projects like Hollybank Tree Top Adventures, Tahune Forest Air Walk and Dismal Swamp attractions, all part of putting the industry in a good light and projects like Derby would have also been along those lines.
Then around 2016 it all fell over, with the state owned company bleeding cash (and still is), dodgy links to the privately owned Gunns reviled, and it got all chopped up. Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife, and DPIPWE took over large amounts of future timber production land and all the reserves and tourism operations (Hollybank was sold to private operators). and company was then renamed as Sustainable Timbers (bit of an oxymoron if you ask me) and was purely focused on timber production.

You'll find that most of the big trees around Derby like Big Mumma and Big Pappa would at the time been considered not good enough for saw logs as they are scarred, have wind damage as back in the day only the best timber was selected as being a manual process with limited machinery it was a waste of resources to take timber that wasn't worthy for a saw mill. The rest of Derby's trees are regrowth from the past 80 to 100 years. You can seen in some of the old photos where areas were bare of trees there are now quite sizeable trees.
 
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