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Ridge and Ruts - December 2025 edition 4WD clubs and members continue to do an amazing job in the volunteer space. Some recent examples are the 19th year of the track clearing in the Snowy River and Erinundra NPs, which totalled 480 volunteer hours, track clearing and signage maintenance in the Grampians = 285 hours, support at the Narbeview Wildlife Shelter = 66 hours. Aberfeldy track maintenance = 105 hours. Other recent works include Yangoura, Alpine NP, vehicle recovery in Lerderderg SP, and much, much more. Collectively, combined over the past four months, 341 volunteers, have travelled over 87,000 KMs to complete these projects driving 250+ vehicles, while boosting the tourism and economic contribution to regions and businesses too. A reminder to submit volunteer data post-projecthere On Wednesday, 19 November 2025, the Parks and Public Land Legislation Amendment Bill passed through the Legislative Council. It will come into effect in 2026. This is for the CentralWestVictoria and three new National Parks (NP) Wombat-Lerderderg NP, Mount Buangor NP and Pyrenees NP, plus Cobaw Conservation Park, Hepburn Conservation Park and Bendigo Regional Park. View the Council's amendmentshere Note that there is no change to 4WD use in these areas, but there are changes to hunting and prospecting, etc. View the guide to the allowed activities or changes in the park areashere Parks Victoria is upgradingWonnangatta Track to improve safety and maintain access for 4WD visitors. This will involve surface grading, re-sheeting, and reconstructing damaged sections of the track throughout the Valley. Access routes into theWonnangatta Valley from Gippsland and Northeast Victoria remain open with minor delays expected due to the works taking place.Works are planned to begin in early December 2025 and are expected to be completed before the end of the year. This project has been funded $846,000 fromVictoria's Great Outdoors View via the Parks Victoria websitehere Welcome to the Portland Dune Buggy Club as a new affiliate with FWDV. We look forward to collaborating on the sustainable access to Discovery Bay Coastal Park for recreation and 4WDing while protecting its coast and wilderness. The Victorian 4WD Show is on 15 February 2026. View detailshere Enjoy getting outdoors and on the tracks over Christmas and the New Year period. Craig Ryan What's On: We're excited to let you know that we have a new What's On Calendar that can be accessed via the FWDV website. It already shows many of the upcoming events for 2026: https://4wdvictoria.org.au/index.php Please note the Christmas closures dates for the FWDV office -The final day is 19th December 2025 and the team will return to the office on 16th January 2026. Clean Up the Bush Event - 15th November 2025 The Mount Disappointment State Forest Clean-up-the-Bush event was held in November and was a partnership between FWDV, DEECA, 4WD clubs, Friends of Disappointment and the general community, a collaborative effort with between 15-20 cubic metres of rubbish obtained.It was perfect weather as we collected rubbish, tyres, couches, cans/bottles, old car parts and more to help keep this beautiful area pristine. After a BBQ lunch, everyone rolled up their sleeves and got involved to plant 250 trees and 75,000 (Acacia verticillate) seeds to rejuvenate the area. A huge thank you to everyone who participated and made the day such a success! Your efforts make a real difference. Two more Clean-up-the-Bush events will occur in the first half of 2026 at the Latrobe and Midlandsdistricts. (Credit: Thank you, Heath Glass from the Nissan Four Wheel Drive Club, for the pictures) 4wd Courses with FWDV Our new 4wd course dates are now out for 2026. If any of your members are interested in 4wd training they can enrol directly online. TheProficiency Courseis a non-accredited course. This means that you still receive a high level of training, but you are not assessed. To view course outline and course dates:click here Accredited 3 Unit Courses Note all sessions must be attended. This is an accredited course which combines the following 3 units of competency. FWPCOT3325 - Operate a 4wd on unsealed roads FWPCOT3326 - Recover four wheel drive vehicles FWPCOT3329 - Perform complex 4x4 operations For more information regarding our Accredited 4wd courses, clickhere To learn about the difference between an accredited and non accredited course please view our student handbook byclicking here. Use the link here to find upcoming accredited courses:4wd training For 4wd Training FAQ's:click here Please select that you are a club member to obtain your discount when enrolling into a course. RTO 21605 FWDV Christmas Gift Vouchers Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for one of your loved ones? How about a FWDV gift voucher for one our our 4wd courses. Check out the courses coming up in 2026 and find one suitable:here Give the office a call on 8872 7300 or emailoffice@fwdvictoria.org.aufor more details. RTO21605 Trackwatch Magazine FWDV are looking forward to the Summer edition of the latest Trackwatch magazine coming out shortly featuring the 50thAnniversary event for FWDV. Does your club have a special event coming up or have recently celebrated one? Been on any exciting club trips lately? What about volunteering projects your club is involved in?Or maybe you have fresh ideas you’d like to see featured in Trackwatch? Share your stories and photos with us.You can email the office at:office@fwdvictoria.org.auor send them directlyhere   Victorian 4wd Show One to pop onto your calendar for Sunday 15th February 2026. Land Rover Owners Club of Victoria proudly bring you the Victorian 4wd Show taking place at Lardner Park, Warragul. FWDV will be there with a stand, make sure that you pop in and say hi to the team. For more detailsclick here FWDV Club Training Audit Four Wheel Drive Victoria is taking advantage of the quieter Christmas training period to great advantage and are currently conducting a review and audit of club training. Daniel has begun reaching out to clubs who have a Driver Training Unit and starting this process. This is being completed to ensure FWDV are always constantly improving in what we deliver and making sure that clubs are able to deliver a high standard of training to their members. Please keep an eye out for Daniel's email. If you're club hasn't been contacted as yet they will be soon. If your club has other training requests from FWDV please let us know and this will also form part of the review. Club Anniversary's Do you have a Club Anniversary or special event coming up? Please let us know here at FWDV as we would love to share your anniversary or special event with our 4wd community. Amazing effort to the Land Rover Owners Club of Victoria who have turned 62 years young as the club formed back in September 1963. Hope that you all enjoyed your Club BBQ celebrations. You can either leave your details onlinehereor send your information tooffice@fwdvictoria.org.au Welcome Portland Dune Buggy Club We are exicted to announce that the Portland Dune Buggy Club has now affiliated with Four Wheel Drive Victoria. This marks the beginning of a closer and stronger relationship with the club, and we look forward to working together in the future. For more information please visit their website:here Please note that no permits are issued for the months of December and January.   Club Members can be Emailed Directly If your club members would like to be added to our email listing to be emailed items such as Ridge and Ruts or advised when Trackwatch has been released please let us know. We are more then happy to add your club members to our Revolutionise Sport database for emails to be sent directly to them. If at any point the club member no longer wants to receive emails they can simply unsubscribe. Please send your lists to the FWDV office atoffice@fwdvictoria.org.au Volunteering at Wildlife Shelters Individuals and Clubs are often asking about how they can get involved in different volunteer activities. We would like to share these ideas as they come up and one that was raised at the Regional Reps weekend was volunteering at Wildlife Shelters. There are loads of jobs that many of the shelters require, anything from building shelters, through to the cleaning of shelters, laundry, and collecting grass and other foods. It's a great way to get your whole family involved with volunteering. A link has been added to the FWDV website sharing a Wildlife Carers Directory:click here Australian Red Cross Lifeblood The need for blood doesn’t stop over the holidays. Give a truly wanted gift and donate blood — we’re going to! You can book your donation atlifeblood.com.auand get a limited-edition festive bandage when you donate between 24 November and 4 January:click here   Follow us on social media! Our Partners Contact Us Eoffice@fwdvictoria.org.au P+61 3 8872 7300 A6/27 Thornton Cresent, Mitcham Whttps://www.4wdvictoria.org.au/ RTO 21605