FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                   

Contact:    John Yarbrough, Lee County Parks & Recreation
                (941) 461-7410

LEE PARK RANGERS GIVEN MORE AUTHORITY TO PROTECT RESOURCES 

FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 14, 2002) – Park Rangers with Lee County’s Parks & Recreation Department will soon have more authority to enforce the parks ordinance and protect the thousands of acres of county park and preservation lands. 

The Board of Lee County Commissioners on Tuesday approved changes to the parks ordinance giving rangers the authority to issue citations – authority that had previously only been granted to code enforcement and law enforcement officers. 

The enhanced powers will allow rangers to better patrol and enforce activities in the county’s parks.  The focus of the Lee County Park Rangers will remain to educate and warn visitors about appropriate activities and behaviors when using the county’s natural sites.  However, a person grossly or repeatedly violating the parks laws can now be fined.  Refusing to accept a citation or resisting a ranger will be a second-degree misdemeanor. 

The parks ordinance (#01-01) regulates all manner of activities in county parks, including protection and preservation of wildlife, swimming, fishing, camping, alcoholic beverages, traffic, and prohibited activities. 

“In the last year we’ve added a significant amount of park space, including Bunche Beach and Hickey Creek Mitigation Park, which will open to the public April 20,” said John Yarbrough, county Parks & Recreation Director.  “Our ranger program will allow us to better protect these assets and make sure that everyone enjoys their park experience without infringing on each other, or the wildlife, in any way.” 

The county has six park rangers.  In the past, they have been primarily used at Lakes Regional Park.  But with the addition of new regional parks and the more than 7,500 acres of Conservation 2020 lands the county has purchased, the rangers will be utilized more throughout the county. 

Lee County’s Parks & Recreation Department maintains and operates 3,500 acres of developed park land, 14 centers, 9 pools, five boat ramps, three Gulf beach parks, one lakefront beach, 76 beach accesses, 60 tennis courts, 73 ballfields, and 13 preserves.  The department also manages the more than 7,500 acres of environmentally sensitive lands the county has purchased in the last five years through its Conservation 2020 Program.  Its fiscal year 2002 operating budget is $16.2 million. 

Lee County Parks & Recreation received national accreditation last year, becoming one of only 33 systems in the country to be awarded such a designation.  The department is close to opening the 1,115-acre Hickey Creek Mitigation Park, was instrumental in the purchase of the environmentally significant Bunche Beach (730 acres), and this month is launching POWER (Parks Online Web Enabled Registration), an online system that will allow residents to register for programs and reserve facilities over the Internet.