Just Another Day At the Beach

Because of a statement made by the Umpqua Post that Dunes Fest was held in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, I mistakenly stated in this post that the DunesFest occurs on National Forest lands.  I have corrected the post below to clarify that the main events are actually held on Douglas County managed property that is located adjacent to the ODNRA.  

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Each year on property adjacent to the Siuslaw National Forest Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, Douglas County allows a privately sponsored motorized event to occur on the lands it manages - DunesFest.  An article published yesterday in the Umpqua Post released some interesting numbers regarding law enforcement and citations.  This event requires five times the law enforcement presence just to try to keep the crowds under control.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dwes Hutson said that it was "a pretty typical DuneFest for us,” and that citations and arrests this year were average for DuneFest events.

This year, the sheriff's office reports that they arrested 36 people, cited another 93 for all-terrain-vehicle violations, and issued warnings to 149 others.  36 of the citations were for reckless operation, speeding, operating on roads or in areas closed to ATVs.

Because law enforcement efforts focused on safety, rather than protection of the resource, it is impossible to know how many other citations could have been issued for ATV use in closed areas, or to know what resource damage occurred.  Maybe the Siuslaw forest has patrolled the area of the event as part of their monitoring efforts to see what damage occurred, but if they have, no report to the public has been released.

There have also been no reports yet on how many people were injured at this years event, but the local emergency responders and hospital always see an increase in "visitors."

DunesFest organizers claim that 8,000 people have attended the event each of the past few years.  Sherriffs officers who were out on the ground agree that it was in "the thousands."  These types of crowded events, designed for thrills and full of contests and adrenaline are inappropriate on our public lands, and it's only a matter of time before an accident of the magnitude of this one on BLM lands a few weeks ago occurs here in Oregon. 

The Forest Service has made the right decision to not allow the main events to be held on Forest Service lands, but the Oregon Dunes still experiences an upswing of closure violations due to the event.  Each year the Siuslaw increases law enforcement around the event to compensate for the decisions of its neighbor Douglas County.