NEWS

DNR seeks booze ban at some Iowa beaches

Mike Kilen, and Jeffrey C. Kummer
Des Moines Register

SOLON, Ia. — It got so bad that Gwen Prentice sarcastically joked that she had a new job title.

The former park ranger at Lake Macbride State Park called herself a “bouncer.”

“The beach went from family time with kids to a bunch of young people drinking, yelling and screaming obscenities, fighting, and people having sex in the water,” said Prentice, who became so concerned with the escalating party atmosphere that she moved her family out of park-provided housing and into town.

Gull Point State Park in Milford saw such an increase in litter, public intoxication, underage drinking, fights and indecent exposure by 2010 that a ban was studied there, yet was never issued.

As summer beach season approaches, a data analysis by The Des Moines Register shows that alcohol-related incidents at some state parks and recreation areas are an ongoing problem.

Park rangers reported more than 5,000 incidents and citations system-wide from 2010 through 2015, many of them alcohol-related. Five of the state’s network of 72 parks — Lake Macbride near Solon, Pleasant Creek at Palo, Gull Point at Milford, Backbone at Dundee and Lake Manawa near Council Bluffs — accounted for nearly two-thirds of the 1,021 cases in which drinking was a factor.

To begin to address alcohol-related problems, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has drafted an administrative rule to ban alcohol on or near beaches at Lake Macbride and Pleasant Creek. The rule still needs approval by the Natural Resource Commission and Gov. Terry Branstad, whose spokesman said the governor is reviewing the proposal and hasn't yet taken a position.

If enacted, beer, wine and liquor could no longer be consumed on the beaches, in a 200-foot buffer area behind them or within their roped-off swimming areas. Drinks could still be consumed at campgrounds, in picnic shelters located at least 200 feet from the beaches and on watercraft outside the swim areas.

If problems escalate, other state parks and park areas could be next, DNR officials say. A review of alcohol policies at all parks is underway after rangers reported mounting problems, but those at Lake Macbride and Pleasant Creek were determined to be the most pressing.

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The agency in December asked recent state park visitors to comment on the proposed alcohol ban: 694 responded in favor of banning beer and booze from beach areas, and 442 were opposed. Fifteen million people visit Iowa's state parks each year.

Scott Galloway of Grand Mound was among respondents opposing a ban.

“Our politicians spend too much time passing laws," he said. "All they do is cost the taxpayers money to enforce them. If I want to go to the park with the family, have a barbecue, play some bags and have a few beers, what am I hurting?”

Others said the DNR is right to target the beach areas.

“The people who use alcohol can be quite noisy, and many use coarse language and might not be in physical control of themselves,” said Nikki Herbst of Iowa City, who often takes her daughter with special needs to state parks around Iowa. She left the Lake Macbride beach one day because of the partying there. “I don’t want her around people who are unpredictable, as some people who drink are.”

Many who oppose a ban said that the sins of the few shouldn’t limit the freedoms of the many who use alcohol responsibly. Those in favor of the law cited incidents of rowdy behavior, litter on the beach and people so inebriated they vomit in the sand where their kids are building castles.

Park had 'tailgating atmosphere'

Prentice said most of her workday was spent at the beach monitoring large throngs of 200 or more mostly young adults ages 21 to 30. Prentice has since left for a job at Wildcat Den State Park in Muscatine, which doesn’t have a beach.

The Register's review of citations issued by the DNR at Lake Macbride shows numerous incidents of underage drinking, fights and public intoxication.

Since 2010, 222 of 371 incidents and citations issued by law enforcement at Lake Macbride involved alcohol, and all but 11 took place at the beach. But the trouble wasn't confined to sand and shore.

The parking lot became a “tailgating atmosphere,” Prentice said. One intoxicated person dumped burning charcoal in the lot, and a car caught on fire. Another time, two groups squared off to fight. Between crisis calls, she checked identifications for underage drinkers or performed breath tests for blood-alcohol content.

Some revelers even approached her and asked to be tested to see whether they could drive.

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The problem was compounded by having only one ranger with law enforcement certification on staff. It forces park staff to call in the county sheriff for assistance. Johnson County Sheriff’s Department responded to 48 calls to Lake Macbride in 2014.

The increasing number of calls can become a problem at places such as Lake Macbride, “where there is only one way in and one way out and it takes a while to get there,” said Sheriff's Capt. Gary Kramer.

Neighbors have petitioned the state to ban alcohol there in the past, but the efforts failed. The problem worsened after a concession business closed in 2000, leaving the beach area without lifeguards. When the Army Corps of Engineers banned alcohol from beaches it controlled at nearby Coralville Lake in 2004, drinkers began migrating to Lake Macbride.

“It became a concern for our staff,” state parks bureau chief Todd Coffelt said of the park, which includes the beach, trails and two campgrounds within its 2,180 acres. “When we get 400 or 500 people, it’s not safe for our officers or the people there.”

In 2015, some state park beaches began to close earlier, at 6 p.m., which helped decrease the number of problems. But parents who wanted to bring their children to swim after work then couldn’t use the beach.

Lake MacBride beach is pictured on Friday, May 6, 2016. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has drafted a rule with a stricter ban on alcohol at the beach after an increased number of incidents.

Similar behavior at Pleasant Creek

Pleasant Creek also close to the larger population areas of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, saw similar problems at its beach. Of 888 incidents and citations from 2010 to 2015, 427 were at the beach.

“We did a safety check one time with four state troopers. It was supposed to last 1½ hours, but in 45 minutes we had 30 OWIs (operating while intoxicated), and we ran out of officers because they were all booking people,” said Carl Fairley, park ranger.

He emptied a box of hundreds of citations on the table, detailing incidents of staggering beach-goers, fights, people “mooning” each other and open challenges to conservation officers who they assumed didn’t have law enforcement authority.

“If you’re intoxicated, you are more likely to drown,” Fairley said. “I’m surprised we haven’t had more incidences.”

It got so bad on some days, he was also spending most of his day tending to drinkers. He described a typical incident, when a group of 10 or so young adults sat around two coolers drinking all day. A young woman in the group couldn’t stand up to walk, so he arrested and handcuffed her for public intoxication. Fairley said he allowed her to use the restroom, then found her dangling from its window with her legs kicking and flip-flops flapping after she attempted to escape.

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He said he spent three hours with her at a hospital emergency room because she said she was ill. That’s during a time, DNR officials say, when tight budgets already limit the number of conservation officers stationed at each park.

Currently, 50 state parks are staffed. But just 35 parks have rangers, who are sworn law enforcement officers. Fifteen others are staffed with park managers, who oversee mowing, maintenance and other duties.

The remaining 22 parks and recreation areas are unstaffed, except for maintenance. They are mostly  “wild areas” without picnic shelters or other such amenities, said DNR spokesman Kevin Baskins.

Gull Point State Park in Milford saw such an increase in litter, public intoxication, underage drinking, fights and indecent exposure by 2010 that a ban was studied there, yet was never issued.

Cities, counties ban booze

Arnolds Park, a city at the center of the Iowa Great Lakes, banned alcohol on its city beach after several hundred young adults congregated on a dock in the 1980s and caused its collapse, said former city administrator Ron Walker. There were no serious injuries. The city has since expanded the ban to all public spaces.

The result: The summer party scene shifted from Arnolds Park to nearby Gull Point State Park, one of the most popular in the state system, drawing about 1.2 million visitors a year.

By 2010, Gull Point saw such an increase in litter, public intoxication, underage drinking, fights and indecent exposure that the DNR recommended an alcohol ban there. But the state's Natural Resource Commission, an appointed seven-member citizen board, rejected the plan.

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Since then, other Iowa cities and counties banned drinking at some of their parks and park beaches.

Thomas Hazelton, chief executive officer of the Iowa County Conservation System, said 14 counties responded to its survey saying they limited alcohol at their parks. After the counties banned alcohol, park officials told him that families returned to the park beaches.

“If they don’t do anything about it, it becomes known as a place to drink and carry on,” he said.

Fishermen enjoy an afternoon on Lake MacBride near the beach on Friday, May 6, 2016. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has drafted a rule with a stricter ban on alcohol at the beach after an increased number of incidents.

Neighboring states: A mixed bag

Minnesota has long banned alcohol at its state parks after numerous issues with drinking. At least a dozen other states also have bans. Wisconsin has a ban at only one state park, but officials say they are discussing lifting it. Nebraska has bans at two parks and restricts hours for consumption at others, while Missouri bans alcohol on beaches and parking areas.

Alcohol was banned at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beaches at Saylorville and Coralville lakes in 2004 and last year at Lake Red Rock.

The bans upset those who say responsible, social drinkers should not be limited by the unruly minority.

“We should within reason try to enforce our current laws,” James Kersten of Fort Dodge said about public intoxication, drunken driving and disorderly conduct. “If those aren’t working, then institute a ban. But I think 98 percent of users are safe and courteous.”

Others say prohibitions don’t work.

Derek Gibson of Clear Lake, who recently retired from law enforcement in Colorado, said attempts there to limit alcohol failed. After the drinking age rose to 21, those who are underage have still drunk alcohol. And bans on alcohol in public areas failed because people use plastic cups to hide it or sneak it in.

“I wasn’t around during Prohibition, but it’s akin to it, and I don’t think it works,” he said.

Mary Sloan, a prevention supervisor at Compass Point Behavioral Health Services in Spencer, said a ban is worth trying, especially at locations around water, where people are sitting in the hot sun all day. A ban worked at a beach on the south end of West Okoboji Lake, she said, and it can work elsewhere.

“We can prevent someone from getting hurt, drowning, domestic violations or just promote healthy behavior on our beaches so young people have good role models,” she said. “I think we are being more in tune to disruptive, unsafe behavior.”