A man who manually diverted the Platte River through Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was sentenced this week on two federal charges.
“Allegations of tampering and vandalism due to the artificial diversion of the Platte River are alarming,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement..
“Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the Great Lakes are national jewels, and my office takes protecting our natural treasures very seriously.”
Andrew Howard, 63, of Frankfort, Michigan, went to the park with a shovel on August 15, 2022.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he dug out sediment and rocks from the river basin and piled large boulders on top of the dam he built himself.
This diverted the river’s natural flow through a newly dug channel into Lake Michigan.
After 17 months, the saliva the man had dug up has finally begun to regenerate.
Photos taken before the illegal conversion show the river snaking through sandbars parallel to the coastline. Local media said it was nearly impossible for boaters to escape to the lake.
“Within a few days, the natural forces of water and the dam brought the width of the new channel to approximately 200 feet,” officials said in a written statement. press release.
“This diversion allowed large boats to illegally enter Platte Bay.”
According to Michigan Live, the court brief mentions “an influx of fishermen coming to the Platte River boat launch to take advantage of the favorable access conditions created by the new waterway.”
Aerial photos after the diversion show a much deeper river with a channel that connects directly to the lake. It appears that the rest of the river has been dammed.
The Park Service investigated for months and petitioned authorities. Information disclosure before Howard was indicted.
“Howard dammed the river that morning so he could no longer enter the bay by boat, and then caught coho salmon in the deep mouth,” according to court testimony from a park ranger. michigan live report.
The ranger showed Howard a receipt from a hardware store near his home where he purchased the shovel.
Another ranger testified that he saw Howard using a shovel to stack stones, and this was corroborated by other witnesses.
The fisherman is currently awaiting sentencing for federal misdemeanor tampering and vandalism of a national park.
For diverting the Platte River, he could face up to six months in prison, a $5,000 fine, five years’ probation and mandatory restitution.
“Mr. Howard got into a policy dispute with the National Park Service, and rather than use legal means to make his case, Mr. Howard broke the law and took matters into his own hands,” Totten said.
“His actions caused significant economic and environmental damage, altering the landscape enjoyed by many.”
According to local media, Howard was not the only one unhappy with the river’s flow.
According to , the state and the nuclear power plant dredged the river every fall from 1968 to 2013 to create an entrance to the lake. record eagle Located in Traverse City, Michigan.
The dredging began a year after seven salmon fishermen drowned when a storm swept through the lake, capsizing their fishing boat as it returned to port from the shallow mouth of the Platte River, the paper said. Michigan Live called it a “coho heat disaster.”
Michigan Live spoke to a Department of Natural Resources official who said NPS doesn’t like dredged material depositing on beaches.
A 2016 NPS report states that the continued addition of layers has stopped vegetation in the dunes.
The official went on to tell Michigan Live that the illegal diversion actually helped the river by lowering water levels upstream by a foot.
The DNR cited erosion from oversaturated wetlands and high water levels. And the new access allows rescue boats easier access to the bay, resolving security concerns. This area is popular with kayakers and beachgoers.
Salmon advocates also said the diversion would provide a clearer path for coho salmon to return to the river each year.
NPS had planned a $500,000 project to remove dredging debris to allow nature to extend the sand spit and create a better environment for the endangered piping plover. That’s pending.
