Post by LSDeep on Aug 10, 2005 22:35:00 GMT -5
ST. CROIX, Virgin Islands (9 Aug 2005) -- The waters around Buck Island Reef National Monument are getting hotter for boaters and fishermen looking to skirt the rules.
As National Park Service staff are working to draw up a long-term management plan for the area, they are also stepping up enforcement of the rules already in place.
With more manpower and more regular visits to the island, National Park rangers say they have already nabbed a number of offenders - but more importantly they say they have been able to educate boaters and fishermen face-to-face.
"We have a policy that we have conveyed many times to the public, and that is that our first contact is always verbal," Park Superintendent Joel Tutein said Monday. "Our second contact with the same person who is doing the same thing is written and our third is enforcement. We want to give people three chances to do the right thing."
Chief Ranger John Wilkins - who helped institute the increased enforcement when he was hired in February - said his crew has been cracking down on illegal fishing within the monument as well as illegal tour operations.
"We've had people grabbing other people off the street and asking if they want a trip to Buck Island," he said, adding that any paid tours to the island must be permitted by the Park Service.
Wilkins said they have also caught fishermen diving for conch and lobster within the confines of the monument.
The penalties for violating regulations include fines of as much as $5,000 and even jail time.
Both Wilkins and Tutein said the public has been involved and supportive of the increased enforcement at Buck Island.
"It's amazing how well the Crucian people take care of Buck Island," Wilkins said.
Tutein said the public has called for even more enforcement at a series of meetings held in the last few weeks. Those meetings are helping to shape a new management plan for the monument - that process will take approximately a year as the Park Service analyzes the impact of thousands of visitors a year to the island.
"We're concerned that it's being loved to death," Wilkins said.
Tutein said that enforcement will continue to rise as the park fills two ranger vacancies. The park has also been utilizing some traveling rangers who rotate in from other parks throughout the country on 30 to 60 day visits.
The monument totals 19,045 acres of land and water off the northeast coast of St. Croix. Only about 200 of those acres are the dry land of the island.
Buck Island was designated a "park" or protected area by the Municipal Government of St. Croix in 1948. President Kennedy proclaimed the area Buck Island Reef National Monument in December 1961, and President Clinton expanded Buck Island Reef's boundaries by 18,135 acres in January 2001.
The general National Park regulations are all in place at Buck Island, as well as some specialized rules, which prohibit:
* Extractive uses: All extractive uses are prohibited within the boundaries of the Monument, including harvest or collection (on the land or in the water) of fish for any use, marine mammals, coastal migratory pelagic fish, baitfish, lobsters, conch, whelk, hermit crabs (soldier crabs), seashells, corals, dead coral, sea fans, sponges and all associated reef invertebrates, plants, fruits and seeds, firewood, driftwood, rocks, sand, gas, oil, and minerals.
* Marine operations: No dredging, excavating or filling operations of any kind are permitted, and no equipment, structures, byproducts or excavated materials associated with such operations may be deposited in or on the waters or ashore within the boundaries of the Monument.
* Wrecks: No person shall destroy molest, remove, deface, displace or tamper with wrecked or abandoned waterborne craft of any type or condition, or any cargo pertaining thereto, unless permitted in writing by an authorized official of the National Park Service.
* Boats: No watercraft shall operate in such a manner, nor shall anchors or any other mooring device be cast or dragged or placed, so as to strike or otherwise cause damage to any underwater features.
Anchoring or maneuvering watercraft within the waters that contain underwater marked swimming trails and interpretive signs is prohibited.
Anchoring is prohibited except by permit issued by the superintendent for deep sand bottom areas or for administrative purposes.
Anchoring will be allowed in emergency situations only to protect life and property.
All watercraft, carrying passengers, for hire, shall comply with applicable regulations and laws of the U.S. Coast Guard and territory of the Virgin Islands.
* Fishing: All forms of fishing are prohibited including, but not limited to, spearfishing, rod and reel, hand-line, nets, gill or trammel, traps or pots, snares, hooks, poison, cast nets, trawl, seine and long-line.
The use or possession of any type of fishing equipment or any of the items listed above is prohibited within the boundaries of the Monument.
SOURCE - Virgin Islands Daily News
As National Park Service staff are working to draw up a long-term management plan for the area, they are also stepping up enforcement of the rules already in place.
With more manpower and more regular visits to the island, National Park rangers say they have already nabbed a number of offenders - but more importantly they say they have been able to educate boaters and fishermen face-to-face.
"We have a policy that we have conveyed many times to the public, and that is that our first contact is always verbal," Park Superintendent Joel Tutein said Monday. "Our second contact with the same person who is doing the same thing is written and our third is enforcement. We want to give people three chances to do the right thing."
Chief Ranger John Wilkins - who helped institute the increased enforcement when he was hired in February - said his crew has been cracking down on illegal fishing within the monument as well as illegal tour operations.
"We've had people grabbing other people off the street and asking if they want a trip to Buck Island," he said, adding that any paid tours to the island must be permitted by the Park Service.
Wilkins said they have also caught fishermen diving for conch and lobster within the confines of the monument.
The penalties for violating regulations include fines of as much as $5,000 and even jail time.
Both Wilkins and Tutein said the public has been involved and supportive of the increased enforcement at Buck Island.
"It's amazing how well the Crucian people take care of Buck Island," Wilkins said.
Tutein said the public has called for even more enforcement at a series of meetings held in the last few weeks. Those meetings are helping to shape a new management plan for the monument - that process will take approximately a year as the Park Service analyzes the impact of thousands of visitors a year to the island.
"We're concerned that it's being loved to death," Wilkins said.
Tutein said that enforcement will continue to rise as the park fills two ranger vacancies. The park has also been utilizing some traveling rangers who rotate in from other parks throughout the country on 30 to 60 day visits.
The monument totals 19,045 acres of land and water off the northeast coast of St. Croix. Only about 200 of those acres are the dry land of the island.
Buck Island was designated a "park" or protected area by the Municipal Government of St. Croix in 1948. President Kennedy proclaimed the area Buck Island Reef National Monument in December 1961, and President Clinton expanded Buck Island Reef's boundaries by 18,135 acres in January 2001.
The general National Park regulations are all in place at Buck Island, as well as some specialized rules, which prohibit:
* Extractive uses: All extractive uses are prohibited within the boundaries of the Monument, including harvest or collection (on the land or in the water) of fish for any use, marine mammals, coastal migratory pelagic fish, baitfish, lobsters, conch, whelk, hermit crabs (soldier crabs), seashells, corals, dead coral, sea fans, sponges and all associated reef invertebrates, plants, fruits and seeds, firewood, driftwood, rocks, sand, gas, oil, and minerals.
* Marine operations: No dredging, excavating or filling operations of any kind are permitted, and no equipment, structures, byproducts or excavated materials associated with such operations may be deposited in or on the waters or ashore within the boundaries of the Monument.
* Wrecks: No person shall destroy molest, remove, deface, displace or tamper with wrecked or abandoned waterborne craft of any type or condition, or any cargo pertaining thereto, unless permitted in writing by an authorized official of the National Park Service.
* Boats: No watercraft shall operate in such a manner, nor shall anchors or any other mooring device be cast or dragged or placed, so as to strike or otherwise cause damage to any underwater features.
Anchoring or maneuvering watercraft within the waters that contain underwater marked swimming trails and interpretive signs is prohibited.
Anchoring is prohibited except by permit issued by the superintendent for deep sand bottom areas or for administrative purposes.
Anchoring will be allowed in emergency situations only to protect life and property.
All watercraft, carrying passengers, for hire, shall comply with applicable regulations and laws of the U.S. Coast Guard and territory of the Virgin Islands.
* Fishing: All forms of fishing are prohibited including, but not limited to, spearfishing, rod and reel, hand-line, nets, gill or trammel, traps or pots, snares, hooks, poison, cast nets, trawl, seine and long-line.
The use or possession of any type of fishing equipment or any of the items listed above is prohibited within the boundaries of the Monument.
SOURCE - Virgin Islands Daily News