A man was convicted this week of two federal charges after he diverted the Platte River by hand through the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan.
“These allegations of disturbance and vandalism by man-made water diversions on the Platte River are disturbing,” US Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement.
“The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Great Lakes are national jewels, and my office cares about preserving our natural treasures.”
Andrew Howard, a 63-year-old man from Frankfort, Michigan, takes a shovel to the park on August 15, 2022.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, he dug sediment and rock out of the river basin and then piled boulders on top of the dam he built himself.
That diverted the river’s natural flow through a newly dug channel to Lake Michigan.
After 17 months, the spit that the man dug, finally began to change.
A view of the Platte River in May 2022 before it was altered by Andrew Howard. US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Michigan
Pictures before the illegal diversion show the river meandering through a sandy spit parallel to the coastline. The exit to the lake is almost impossible for boats, according to local media.
“Within days, the natural force of the water and the dam caused the new channel to reach a width of about 200 feet,” officials said in a press release.
“The diversion creates unauthorized access for large boats to enter Platte Bay.”
The trial briefing cited “a flood of fishermen coming to the Platte River boat launch to take advantage of the favorable access conditions created by the new channel,” according to Michigan Live.
An aerial photo after the diversion shows a deeper river with a direct channel to the lake. The continuation of the river seems to be stopped.
Howard was found guilty of nuisance and vandalism on February 7, 2024, for diverting the national park’s river. AP
The Park Service investigated for months and sent out an appeal to the public for information before Howard was charged.
According to court testimony from a park ranger, “Howard dammed the river after being unable to steer his boat into the bay that morning and then caught a coho salmon as soon as his mouth was deep,” Michigan Live reported.
A ranger handed over a receipt for the shovel from the hardware store near Howard’s house where he bought it.
Another ranger testified to seeing Howard using a shovel and stacking rocks, which was corroborated by other witnesses.
Howard took a shovel and dug the sediment and rock out of the river, then stacked boulders on top of the dam he built himself, diverting the natural flow of its waters. US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Michigan
The fisherman is currently awaiting sentencing for disturbing and vandalizing a national park, which is a federal misdemeanor.
He faces a maximum of six months in prison, a $5,000 dollar fine, 5 years of probation and mandatory restitution for diverting the Platte River.
“Mr. Howard had a policy dispute with the National Park Service and took decisions on his own, breaking the law rather than using legal means to support his position,” Totten said.
“His actions resulted in significant financial and ecological harm and changed the landscape that many people enjoy.”
According to local media, Howard is not the only one who has a complaint with the flow of the river.
The state and NPS dredged the river, creating an entrance to the lake, every fall from 1968 to 2013, according to The Record Eagle in Traverse City, Michigan.
The newspaper found that the dredging began a year after seven salmon fishermen drowned when a storm hit the lake and overturned a fishing boat as they tried to return to port through the shallow mouth of the Platte. Michigan Live calls this the “Coho fever disaster.”
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Michigan Live spoke with an official at the Department of Natural Resources who said that the NPS does not like dredging sediment being deposited on beaches.
A 2016 NPS report says that the continued addition of layers stops dune vegetation.
The official went on to tell Michigan Live that the illegal diversion actually helped the river by lowering the water level upstream by a foot.
The DNR notes oversaturated marshland and erosion from high water levels. And the new access solves public safety concerns by allowing lifeboats to easily access the bay. This area is popular with kayakers and beachgoers.
Salmon advocates say that the diversion also makes a clearer path for Coho salmon to return to the river each year.
The NPS has planned a $500,000 project to remove dredging debris to allow nature to extend the sandy spit and create a better environment for the endangered piping plover. That’s on hold.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
