Policing Our Area

This morning we rescued several campers from four legged hooligans. They were being held hostage by the bay stallion, Chip, and his three mares who congregated under their gazebo and around the tents, checked out the picnic tables for breakfast items and tried to carry away a bag of trash. The understandably shaken campers now understand why we have rules and our actions opened an avenue of discussion which lasted more than twenty minutes. I hope they will always remember their visit to the park, for both the good experience and the lessons learned.

Part of our job here is education and we’ve been doing plenty of that. We have reminded families with children to be aware of the feuding stallions, cautioned pet owners to keep their leashes short and provided answers to all manor of questions from “ why is that stallion so thin?” to “ why don’t the horses cross the bridge?”. We’ve even tried explaining to one camper why clotheslines are not allowed.

Park policy changes with each administration. Two years ago, we were required to clean out fire pits and dump the ashes in the tree line. Last year, fire pits could be cleaned but only after being sure the embers are cold. It seems an overzealous camp host moved hot coals to a dumpster causing a fire and a complete meltdown. So, this year, debris like cans, trash and glass can be removed from fire rings but only maintenance is allowed to clean pits out. Another change in policy has had some unforeseen consequences. The Park Service has ceased it’s practice of removing windblown sand from campsites. Since a barrier island is constantly moving with storms and tides and the power of nature cannot be convinced to stay within boundaries, the unintended consequence is flooding of areas that stood high and dry previously. Freshwater ponds have become dry, three RV sites are now labeled as “tents only” and several picnic tables are in danger of being lost in the dunes.