Dunes alcohol ban gets second big holiday test.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

FLORENCE - Carmen Trummert and her three riding buddies sat atop her souped-up Banshee all-terrain vehicle at the Dunes National Recreation Area last week like off-road warriors ready for battle.

But these were four mild-mannered moms, not to be compared to the group of raging partygoers that has needled the U.S. Forest Service in recent years. Which explains their support of the government's new alcohol ban at unimproved campsites on the sandy landscape.

The restrictions, imposed May 1, have drawn ire from off-road vehicle enthusiasts. But going into the July Fourth weekend, people such as Trummert hope the ban will make her and her family safer in a setting that Forest Service officials say has spiraled out of control.

Rangers and dunes enthusiasts describe a scene straight out of Animal House, minus the house: hundreds of drunken revelers - many of them underage - fighting, cutting down trees for firewood, burning magnesium engine blocks for bonfires, flipping sport-utility vehicles for show, leaving mounds of bottles, cans and human waste for someone else to clean up.

And that's when they're not riding. When they are on their ATVs, they are sometimes nude, blasting helmet-free over hillsides at speeds of up to 80 mph.

Most busy days on the dunes produce accidents. Each year, some of them die.

More revelry, more citations

The popularity of partying on the dunes has skyrocketed in recent years. The Forest Service issued 425 sand camping permits in 2000, 775 the following year and 1,100 last year. With that came an increase in citations officials issued, from 500 in 2000 to 800 the next year and 1,000 last year.

To combine an already dangerous sport with alcohol is simply a bad idea, Forest Service officials say. And that's why they've tried to put a stop to it.

"When I bring my family out here, I don't want some yahoo being stupid and running into us," Trummert said. "It drives me nuts that you don't have to wear a helmet."

Dunes managers are taking their concerns beyond alcohol, as well, though there's no talk of a helmet law right now.

The Forest Service is looking hard at the impact that sand camping has on the dune environment. An environmental assessment, currently in the works, could lead to increased restrictions for "dispersed camping."

The burning of engine blocks creates serious air quality problems, but Forest Service spokesman John Zapell said he knows of no regulation forbidding it - so he can't cite anyone for it.

The Forest Service is considering stiffening the permit process for sand campers. Currently, people who wish to camp in the dunes must apply for a permit, but the price is the same as the entry fee for the dunes, $3. Since there aren't designated campsites in the sand, it's difficult to know who made the mess.

The environmental assessment could lead to designated sites that campers would be assigned to. It could also restrict the number of campers allowed at each designated site. And campers may be required to furnish their own portable toilets.

"We've had groups of 150 to 200 people during the weekends in big areas," Zapell said. "When you mix alcohol with large groups, people tend to get a little carried away.

"It's really hard to manage."

So far, the alcohol ban has drawn mixed opinions from those who use the dunes. Many people have praised the Forest Service, Zapell said.

"A lot of people said `It's about time,' ' he said. "They feel safer; they can bring their families back to the dunes."

Others, however, complain that their rights are being infringed upon, that they can't have a beer while relaxing at their campsite, or that ATV users are being singled out as troublemakers.

But on the dunes, where there are no traffic lanes or turn signals and where reckless driving can be sport, finding probable cause to stop a vehicle is nearly impossible, Zapell pointed out.

Some people riding the dunes this week wondered how the alcohol ban could be effectively enforced. As John Jensby, 26, sipped a beer at the South Jetty staging area this week - a legal spot for drinking - he scoffed at the notion that law enforcement could keep people from boozing on the dunes.

At checkpoints, set up on holidays, Jensby noticed, "they stop you, and say `Do you have any alcohol?' and people say `No, I don't have any alcohol,' ' and that's the end of it.

While he understands the intent of the law, Jensby doesn't think it'll do much good.

Zapell admitted that the toughest part of the alcohol ban is enforcement.

"We've got a limited number of law enforcement, and thousands of people out there," he said. "If somebody really wanted to get away with it, they'd probably be able to."

But most people will abide by the law, he said, and before the ban, sheriff's deputies had little recourse to break up wild parties in the sand.

Accidents drop sharply

On Memorial Day weekend, the first holiday after the ban was enacted, the Forest Service evicted and cited about two dozen people for having alcohol, and the number of accidents dropped sharply from past holiday weekends, though Zapell couldn't provide statistics.

This weekend, entry stations to the dunes will be staffed 24 hours a day, and alcohol checks will continue, with patrols on the sand.

Meanwhile, private campgrounds are enjoying the jump in business they've seen as thirsty campers abandon sites where alcohol is banned.

"It's been good for us," said Dena Persons, who works at Sand Dunes Frontier in Florence. "We're getting much more business" since the ban.

CAPTION(S):

Michelle O'Brien (center) of Olympia hopes the alcohol ban will protect her friends and family when they camp in the dunes this year.