But the club’s efforts have sometimes been rewarded by vandalism and some of the people club members have rescued in the past seemed ungrateful, Mr Garden said.
The Central Otago 4WD Club is one of three groups that have joined forces to tackle irresponsible off-roading in Central Otago.
Central Otago District Council and Department of Conservation members will also be in the group, following discussions at this week’s Otago Conservation Board meeting in Alexandra about how to safeguard the region’s 4WD tracks and the people using them.
Central Otago 4WD Club treasurer Brent Wilson said most people who belonged to formal 4WD clubs behaved responsibly, but there were some "cowboy" individuals or informal groups who enjoyed "ripping things up and having fun".
The Central Otago 4WD Club had an outlet for its members to "play in the mud", having leased a 30ha area near the Ngapara Pools, on the outskirts of Alexandra, for more than 20 years.
Fellow club member Roger Marshall said the area was for "big tyre stuff" and was a great facility for its members.
However, earlier this year the club had been forced to put up bollards and chain at the entrance to the area to stop people gaining unauthorised access to the grounds. There had been several near-misses with motorcycles, and club members had rescued 4WDs belonging to non-club members who had got themselves stuck.
In March, the steel reinforcing bar loops which secured a chain to the two bollards were cut, and the chain was removed from the entrance.
Mr Garden said it was disappointing people were not respecting the club’s grounds and vandalising the entrance.
The Central Otago 4WD Club was respected for advocating responsible off-roading, and also helped rescue many who needed assistance, he said.
Last year, Mr Wilson was one of those who helped rescue the 38 people whose 4WDs got stuck in snow on the Waikaia Bush Rd.
It was disappointing that some of those in the group had appeared ungrateful, Mr Wilson said.
The total cost of the rescue was $68,459.53, comprising $56,927.53 mainly in police staff costs and $11,532 for a Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter involved in it.
At the time, a spokesman for the vehicle owners, Curtis Martelli, of Invercargill, said the most important thing to remember was the operation was successful.
"It achieved what it went out to achieve and no lives were lost and everyone got home OK."
He declined to make any comment on the total cost of the rescue: "I don’t think I have anything to say about that."
It is understood the group made a donation to the search and rescue volunteers.
