U.S. man banned from national parks for five years for doing this

U.S. Attorney Mark Totten described it as a "disagreement" on "whether to dredge the Platte River."

Jun 26, 2024 - 19:30

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U.S. man banned from national parks for five years for doing this

Numerous things can earn you a ban from the country's national parks and all land belonging to the NPS.

At the start of June, a Washington man was banned from Yellowstone National Park for two years for trespassing in the area leading to the geothermal Steamboat Geyser, while another man was slapped with a lifetime ban for leading an illegal packrafting expedition through the Grand Canyon twice in 2023.

On June 24, 63-year-old Michigan resident Andrew Howard was convicted of diverting a national park river at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to make it easier for him to get to Lake Michigan.

‘Did not have the right to take the law into his own hands’

The sentence includes probation on top of a five-year ban from all National Park Service (NPS) property. While authorities at Sleeping Bear Dunes used to dredge the river by removing sediments that would accumulate at the bottom, they stopped doing that in 2017 to allow the waterway to take its natural course. The accumulation of sand and other sediment makes it more difficult for boats to pass—the issue that caused Howard to try to dredge it himself.

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"Mr. Howard had a policy dispute with the National Park Service over whether to dredge the Platte River," U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said of the charges. "While Mr. Howard had the right to disagree and advocate for his position, he did not have the right to take the law into his own hands and force his favored result."

He further added that dredging the Platte River in this way harmed animal and plant life in the area by disturbing already fragile ecosystems.

Defense attorney called the river dredging 'enhancing'

The attorney representing Howard, however, said that his client did little other than "remove some rocks" and clean up the area.

"Anything that Mr. Howard did, characterized as 'enhancing' the newly created flow of the river, was in reality insignificant," defense attorney Tony Valentine said in a court filing.

The total sentence amounts to 60 months of probation, $22,472 in restitution to the Sleeping Bear Dunes, and $3,947 to cover the court costs that arose during the trial.

Back in February, Howard had already been convicted of two misdemeanors for tampering and vandalism at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The current strategy around letting the Platte River run its course is part of a Platte River Mouth Restoration and Access Plan that was created based on assessment of the ecosystem.

"The Platte River is located in the southern portion of the National Lakeshore and discharges into Lake Michigan," the NPS wrote at the time of the public consultation around whether to stop dredging in 2017. "[...] Dredging between the boat launch and river mouth has been performed regularly since 1968 by the NPS or the State. [...] A large quantity of stockpiled dredge spoils (sand and gravel removed from the river) is located near the mouth of the river, on the eastern side. Dredging of the river and continued deposition of spoils on the shore causes negative environmental impacts.”