Editorial: Lake’s safety is a concern

Tuesday, June 6, 2000 | 9:41 a.m.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area has received a dubious distinction -- last week the Wall Street Journal dubbed it the most dangerous national park. The Journal's Weekend section tried to determine how safe the nation's largest parks and recreation areas are, ranking them not only by how often they register serious crimes -- homicides, thefts and assaults -- but also on the frequency of search and rescues that the parks must conduct to find missing visitors.

Lake Mead spokesman Bert Byers downplayed the report. For instance, Byers told Sun reporter Susan Snyder in Friday's newspaper that the number of rescues shows that employees are doing their jobs. "We don't wait 24 hours until somebody can prove someone is not around," Byers said. Besides, the Park Service can't stop visitors from using poor judgment -- whether it's a swimmer taking an unnecessary risk that puts him in jeopardy of drowning or, for that matter, if he wanders off and gets lost. That statistic would appear, in the case of Lake Mead, to be more a reflection on the visitors' lack of common sense.

Regarding the second factor, crime, Byers noted that some of the murders actually were initiated in Las Vegas, not at the recreation area. And of the 732 serious crimes reported at Lake Mead, Byers said that 528 were thefts, burglaries and vandalism to park property -- not acts that endangered people's lives. Despite Byers' attempts to minimize property crimes, the fact is that they are serious. And rather than just ascribing this to the recreation area being near an urban center, the Park Service should sit up and take notice in the same way police departments would. After all, if there is a high crime rate in a specific geographic area, a reasonable response would be to increase the number of police officers in neighborhoods and around businesses. The Park Service shouldn't dismiss the law enforcement theory that says if you allow so-called "minor crimes ," such as vandalism, to go unchecked, it will lead to more serious crimes being committed.

Park officials do believe that the introduction of a new entrance fee will help cut down on littering, vandalism and thefts since vandals will be less likely to come if they have to pay. The fees may curb some vandalism, but the U.S. Park Service still should reassess whether the number of employees at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and other parks where there are a high number of crimes committed, are sufficient to ensure the enjoyment and safety of visitors.