Posted on 03/31/2013 10:50:38 AM PDT by llevrok
LAPUSH An ultralight pilot's curiosity over the 185-ton concrete dock that had washed up from Japan on a remote stretch of Olympic National Park beach south of LaPush resulted in a citation and fine.
Raymond Helvey of Forks was cited by a park ranger March 4 at the Forks Municipal Airport after he illegally landed his ultralight aircraft on a beach that had been closed to the public to allow work on dock removal, according to Rainey McKenna, a park spokeswoman.
McKenna said she did not know the amount of the fine associated with the citation.
Helvey was spotted by park employees when he landed his engine-powered ultralight not far from the dock that had crossed the Pacific Ocean after the March 2011 tsunami and washed ashore near the mouth of Mosquito Creek between the Hoh River and LaPush in December.
[Helvey] was able to land it and lift off again, McKenna said.
Helvey told park officials he was curious about the dock and wanted to get a closer look.
Helvey also was given a written warning by an officer with the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary because he flew below the sanctuary's 2,000-foot flight limit, a limit put in place to protect marine mammals and nesting birds, McKenna said.
The man had already been cited by the [National Park Service], so [the marine sanctuary officer] did not cite him a second time, she said.
McKenna said citations such as this do not happen that often, adding that Helvey's was the only citation given in connection with the dock.
Crews from the Port Townsend-based Undersea Co. finished removing the 65-foot-long, 7½-foot-high dock last week.
The removal work, which started March 17, entailed chopping up the dock into smaller sections, which were then taken by helicopter to nearby Rayonier Inc. property and trucked to a Forks recycling station.
Do as I say but ......
WA state ping
Happy Easter, Bay !
Why didn’t they just drag it offshore and sink it as an artificial reef? Or better yet let the navy use it for target practice for the same purpose
Park guy must have been issued a brand new citation book and needed to break it in.
If he’d have only let his bulldog kill a sealion pup he would have got off without the fine.
“The removal work, which started March 17, entailed chopping up the dock into smaller sections, which were then taken by helicopter to nearby Rayonier Inc. property and trucked to a Forks recycling station.”
Removed by Helicopter? How about a large enough barge or boat on the shoreline to load with the debris. I could imagine what that cost.
And now are being compensated by Japan for the debris (over $1M)
It’s the same body of water. The organisms will have traveled from other debris since time immemorial
True. Lots of people around there collect the Japanese glass fishing floats that drift ashore all the time.
True. Lots of people around there collect the Japanese glass fishing floats that drift ashore all the time.
No, it was an old one he needed to use up so he could start using his new UN citation book.
Every Park I’ve been to has service roads that park vehicles drive on but that are prohibited to visitor cars.
This doesn’t seem a bit unreasonable to me. Allowing limited-volume motorized access to provide essential services is quite different from allowing unlimited massive tourist traffic.
LaPush is about an hour and 15 minutes west of my house..... I haven’t seen anything glowing. ;>)
I got cited by a park ranger for having my dog in a national park which was located in the middle of a national forest. You can have a dog in the national forest but not in a national park. No signs pointing out you’re leaving a forest and entering a park. This is in the wilds of Washington state. Parks here are hundreds of square miles. In the east a few hundred acres. Anyway the punk ranger had a brand new citation book. Had to get on the radio to see if I was wanted for any crime(s) - paid $50
Here it is. I'd say its closer to 100 feet that 185 feet long.
Just trying out the Bing search engine. Works very well!
Whoops! The article says its 65 feet long
and 185 tons
Well, you’re still right, it is closer to 100 feet than 185 feet. :)
'Cause iffin you don't, people will be flyin' all over, without the law or anything!!!
Now it's the "dune line". Common sense makes the X's on the map below the best camping spots, flat, and sheltered from wind by the dunes. If they catch you on the wrong side of the red line with your vehicle, even if it's for unloading only it's a $250 fine.
10 years ago we'd park our trucks where the X's are located and the rangers would come by and visit the camp and share in a cup of coffee.
Back then, those rangers were Peace Officers. Now, they are Law Enforcement Officers. This is not a change for the better.
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