Hoons, illegal campers fined after Lake Tinaroo safety blitz

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People captured on camera car surfing, riding in ute trays and doing donuts at Lake Tinaroo are among dozens to be fined by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS).

Cameras were installed at seven locations late last year as part of a safety blitz.

They captured motorists illegally accessing restricted areas of the Danbulla State Forest and driving dangerously.

People who cut down trees and had illegal campfires were also sprung.

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Ranger Roger James said the registered owner of every vehicle caught on camera will receive a $275 fine in the mail.

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“What is clear, is that all the drivers have ignored locked gates, vehicle bollards and signage advising them not to enter,” Mr James said.

“Some of these people have been using the state forest tracks as their personal racetracks and often drive recklessly and cause damage by doing donuts or digging mud holes when they get bogged.

“They have to start taking responsibility for their own actions.

“For the mums and dads or the mates that lend them the cars, the friends that egg them on, they too have to take some responsibility.”

Mr James said the hidden cameras took photos of vehicle number plates and some people were captured cutting locks on gates and cutting down trees to create new dirt trails.

“Illegal access in the state forest is associated with other offences including camping without permits, illegal littering and lighting unlawful fires, which has impacted on vegetation in the past,” Mr James said.

“There are plenty of other places in our region where people can legally enjoy four-wheel-driving and camping.

“QPWS is working with Hancocks Queensland Plantations to maintain the forest tracks and the gates and bollards to prevent illegal access.”

The maximum penalty for damaging a state forest is $2,740, while the maximum penalty for prohibited acts in a state forest is $411,000 or two years imprisonment - or both.