Cleaning up a playground

A fellow from Outside wrote in an e-mail Monday asking about living near the Butte, specifically the Knik River.

He said he has land in the area, but had reservations about moving there because of the nastiness that goes on at the river that he read about online.

He’s right to be concerned. The people who live in the area are generally pretty decent folks. The people who visit the river with a gun in one hand and a beer in the other, not so much.

Over the years there have been plenty of meetings about how to bring some law and order to the Knik River and Jim Creek. Troopers have done some patrolling there to have a presence, but largely the idiots and outlaws still reign.

Last week the Department of Natural Resources announced there will be enforcement of laws and tickets will be issued.

That sounds great, but few people will be surprised if significant improvements don’t happen.

The cops are always outnumbered when they go to work, but in that area the bad buys have plenty of places to hide and four-wheelers to flee deeper into the woods. The only way law enforcement can work is if a couple of troopers camp out for a few days each week and be on the spot when mayhem erupts. Reacting to the reckless activity isn’t working to prevent crime.

If all the troopers or police did was react to car wrecks, the roads would be long death beds. By patrolling and writing tickets, the show us they’re out there and they mean business.

If the troopers are camping at Jim Creek when a collection of fools start indiscriminately firing rounds with no regard for what they hit, they can move in and put a stop to it. Then they call for back up and start putting the cuffs on.

The fire department could roll in and put the campfires out. A few incidents like that would indicate to the idiots that the people are fed up.

Posting signs and hoping for the best simply won’t work and hasn’t worked.

Another tactic that might make a difference would be assigning the criminals to community service — a few days of cleaning up the area seems fitting. That would be a presence of another kind.

State Resource Specialist David Griffin was quoted as calling the river, generally speaking, a rather “pristine area.”

It isn’t but it could be. It can be a great place to take the family fishing, but who wants to do that with bullets snapping twigs overhead?

With a list of regulations a yard long, it’s time to enforce them, otherwise the outlaws will see law enforcement out there as it has been — a toothless tiger.