Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
ALMOTA – In its first use of a new policy designed to curtail overcrowding of its Snake River amenities, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shuttered access Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30, to some riverside areas.
With more than 600 students flocking to the 40-acre Boyer Park and many parking illegally near Illia Dunes and affecting Lower Granite Dam crossing, Corps rangers shut down parking and other vehicle access.
The KOA campground in Boyer Park and Marina, 1753 Granite Road, was also shuttered to non-campers as temperatures rose to the upper-80s.
Other officials reported students overcrowding the areas at Granite Point and Wawawai County Park.
The locations are popular with students and local residents alike trying to find a place to cool off during hot summer days.
While the unannounced weekend shutdown halted access vehicle access, it did not affect boating access.
With temperatures reaching the upper-80s again Tuesday, officials were again keeping an eye on the area to prevent a repeat of the overcrowding.
The decision to prevent too many students and area residents from visiting the area follows implementation of a new dam-crossing policy that officials said they didn’t anticipate using until August – typically Eastern Washington’s hottest month – when students return to the WSU campus in Pullman.
The policy is so new that Corps officials have yet to discuss it with local law enforcement and elected officials, such as the Port of Whitman County commissioners, who oversee Boyer Park.
The weekend closure was unannounced, but Corps officials said in the future any shutdown will include public notification.
Boyer Park has long been known as a “party place” for WSU students.
The park had been the site of the former end-of-summer “Waterbust,” a party in which students kicked off the beginning of a fall semester with music, bikini contests, drinking and more.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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