If this column upsets enough folks to spark a crackdown on partying and under-age drinking on the spoil islands along our scenic stretch of the Indian River Lagoon, those involved have only themselves to blame.
You’ve made a mess of things.
Literally and figuratively.
Not only have you left behind a nasty mess – the more popular islands are littered with beer cans, liquor bottles, plastic containers, Styrofoam cups, tobacco tins, food wrappers, used toilet paper, discarded underwear and even propane tanks and abandoned tents – but your carelessness and shameful disregard for nature have called attention to your behavior.
After a 32963 investigation, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission regional spokesman Greg Workman says the agency will step up patrols to try and catch the bad actors in the act.
Boaters, kayakers, paddle boarders, campers and other visitors to these islands are shocked by what they’re finding when they arrive at what should be pristine patches of paradise.
Some have reported seeing hundreds of beer cans and bottles strewn throughout the wooded areas surrounding the openings where young people often gather to party, knowing they won’t be hassled by law enforcement. Others say they’ve seen damage to mangroves and trees, as well as the charred remains of fires set too close to pavilions and island vegetation.
“We don’t have a full-time marine deputy out there policing those islands,” Indian River County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Eric Flowers said. “We’ve got a boat at the Fire Station near Riverside Park, and we go out if we get a call. But unless there’s a report of some type of disturbance, we don’t usually go out there.
“We’re not going to be out there patrolling, looking for under-age drinkers.”
Workman said up until now, Fish and Wildlife officers have occasionally checked on the islands when they’re in the area, but most patrols are done during daytime hours, and much of the littering and property destruction occurs after dark.
“It’s tough, because there’s a lot going on throughout our region, especially with all the off-shore issues, and we’re spread pretty thin,” Workman said. “And unless you catch them in the act, there’s not a lot we can do.”
The types of litter found, particularly cans and bottles that contained cheap beer and flavored liquors, strongly suggest teen partiers and under-age drinkers are doing most of the damage to the islands in this county.
“It does sound as if that’s the case,” Workman said.
Sheriff’s Office volunteers occasionally patrol the lagoon in private boats on weekends – especially during holiday weekends, when the waterways are busier – but Flowers said budget cutbacks make it impossible to have a full-time marine team checking on the spoil islands.
“Littering and illegal dumping are against the law, and we’ll respond if we get a complaint, but we’d need to be able to identify who was doing it,” Flowers said. “The truth is, we don’t get many of those calls, probably because, if you’ve got a bunch of kids partying on an island out there, nobody’s going to hear it.”
“The kids know there’s a better chance they’ll get caught if they put their beer bottles back in the boat and bring them back to shore,” said Paul Kelly, a local kayaker who was appalled by the “dump site” he and his wife found on a recent excursion to an island east of the Oslo Boat Ramp.
Kelly, a former high school football coach, said he spoke to the county’s public works director, Chris Mora, who he said told him he wasn’t surprised by the discovery. Other than occasionally sending out clean-up crews, however, Mora said there’s not much he can do.
“We live in one of the most beautiful areas on the planet and yet this behavior is going unchecked,” Kelly said. “I believe that if we stand united we can clean up the mess and stop the slobs from causing more damage to these beautiful islands.”
The state owns 124 of the 137 spoil islands in Indian River, Brevard, St. Lucie and Martin counties, which were created more than a half century ago when a 12-foot-deep channel was dredged in the lagoon to create the Intracoastal Waterway.
The state’s islands are managed through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The other 13 islands are owned by private interests, the U.S. government or the Florida Inland Navigation District.
The DEP’s Florida Coastal Office organizes island clean-ups, working closely with the Indian River Lagoon Aquatic Preserves office in Fort Pierce. Usually, the clean-ups are done by local volunteer groups, including some that sign agreements to adopt an island and maintain them.
Kelly, meanwhile, is hoping to organize groups here for additional clean-up efforts. He said he already has spoken to Vero Beach High School Athletic Director Lenny Jankowski about taking some of the Fighting Indians teams out the islands. He also has contacted the youth pastors at local churches.
Stepped up enforcement may help, too.
“We don’t routinely patrol those islands, but now that you’re shining a light on it and showing us there’s a problem, we’ll address it,” Workman said. “I’m sure our watch commanders in that area will send out more patrols. We’ll do what we can to stop it.”