Policing ONF

Found this morning in the SB.

Policing the Forest
Influx of squatters to area has made campers feel unsafe

BY NATHAN CRABBE
THE GAINESVILLE SUN

SILVER SPRINGS - The shooting of two Gainesville college students and a deadly alligator attack have been big news in the Ocala National Forest this year.

But these random incidents don't tell the real story of problems in the forest, according to U.S. Forest Service officials.

The two Forest Service officers policing the 384,000-acre forest are more focused on methamphetamine labs, fights and illegal dumping. Officials say the biggest problem is hundreds of squatters living in the forest, turning undeveloped campgrounds into hotbeds of crime.

"People assume that because they're in the woods that there's no laws out here," said Officer Chris Crain, whose territory covers the southern part of the forest.

The problems have led to a crackdown that includes new limits on camping and increased fines for dumping, threats to forest employees and other violations. Officials say they plan to hire new officers as part of a concerted effort to make all parts of the forest safe for families.

"We want to get the word out: This is serious, we're taking action and we want to get this to be a better place," said Rick Lint, district ranger of the forest.

Forest officers aren't alone, patrolling campgrounds alongside sheriff's deputies from Marion, Lake and Putnam counties. Deputies investigate major crimes and respond to 911 calls from the forest, which have increased in recent years and in Marion County are on pace to rise 20 percent this year.

Those departments have increased their commitments over the years, but Lint said the Forest Service hasn't kept pace. The population within 75 miles of the forest has grown by nearly 4 million since 1990, yet there are just two U.S. Forest Service officers today compared to eight at that time.

So while the Ocala National Forest has the second-highest number of visitors among 15 national forests in the southeastern U.S., only two of those forests have fewer officers.

"Per officer, we're the busiest forest in the region," Crain said.

About 2.9 million visitors come to the forest each year, using 43 campgrounds and four day-use areas. Crain said many of the developed campgrounds that attract high-end recreational vehicles are safe for families, but still create a strain on resources.

Undeveloped campsites are the more serious concern, he said, drawing squatters, some of whom who commit serious crimes involving drugs and violence.

Forest officers have discovered about 20 methamphetamine labs in the past two years, including one that exploded in July at the forest's south end near Buck Lake. Police say they later located Louie V. Cole, 26, and Gina Mongiovi, 36, with burns on their bodies, and charged them with the manufacture of methamphetamine.

REVERSAL OF POLICY
Some long-term campers say they've been unfairly targeted because of such problems. Dana Schoen, 49, said Tuesday he has done day-labor work out of Tavares while living at the Lake Dorr campground with four others for the previous 12 days.

He said they haven't caused trouble, but officers have made them feel unwelcome.

"They just hound us everywhere we go," he said.

Officials say the crackdown marks a reversal of policies that went too far in the other direction. The Ocala Forest's size and lack of restrictions have been the source of its appeal as well as its problems, said Mark Warner, who manages Florida's three national forests for the Forest Service.

"It's kind of wide open,"' he said. "It's a very permissive place."

Taylor Stein, an associate professor of forestry at the University of Florida, said he used to camp in the Ocala Forest when he moved here eight years ago. But he doesn't anymore because he doesn't feel safe.

"These are some scary places they are working in," he said.

The problems at Buck Lake have gotten so bad that a Boy Scout troop vowed never to return there, Lint said. He said he heard similar complaints from workers at local stores and community leaders.

Some say they feel intimidated by squatters, who have on occasion been arrested for violent incidents. On April 16, Mark Patrick Goehring, 43, was arrested for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend at the Farles Prairie campground in the western end of the forest.

The south and west areas represent the major problems areas of the forest, Crain said. Squatters set up homes there because of the proximity to day-labor work available in Ocala, Eustis and other nearby cities, he said.

ILLEGAL DUMPING
Such encampments have helped lead to a change in forest policies. Campers previously were required to move one mile after 14 days at a campsite, but could continue staying in the forest an unlimited time.

Under a new policy winding its way through the federal approval process, they would be limited to two weeks in any given month.

Rocky Callaway, 54, said a crackdown on the old limits already has emptied some campgrounds that once were full. Callaway, part of the group winding up two weeks at Lake Dorr, said he was issued a $175 ticket for staying at another campground in the forest beyond the 14-day limit.

He said longtime campers have been unfairly labeled as criminals.

"They're trying to blame anything that happens in the forest on what they consider undesirables," he said.

Crain said some problems go beyond squatters, such as dumping. He regularly finds everything from household garbage to roofing material in the forest. Dumping has been difficult to deter in part because violators received small fines.

Now fines have been boosted from $150 to $300. Other fines also have been raised, including increasing the fine for damaging property from $100 to $250 and threatening a forest employee from $100 to $300.

But perhaps the most significant change is a planned increase in law enforcement officers. Lint said at least two officers will be hired in the coming months, with the possibility of a third.

The forest also has turned to help from state and local agencies. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection can investigate cases of dumping of more than 500 pounds, as they're doing with a camper full of trash found in September.

Already there are sheriff's deputies in the three counties that cover the forest patrol and investigate crimes there. Both Lake and Marion have three districts with deputies covering forest land and provide additional deputies to handle major crimes.

They all face the challenge of covering large territories with a lot of hiding places, said Sgt. Christie Mysinger, spokeswomen for the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

"They are spread far and thin," she said.

Marion County deputies have increased their patrol of the forest over the years, according to an official there. Deputies have faced an increasing number of calls in recent years and already responded to nearly 22,000 calls this year, as compared to nearly 35,000 in all of 2005.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office also handled two high-profile incidents in the forest this year.

In January, Santa Fe Community College students John Parker and Amber Marie Peck, both 26, were found shot to death near Hidden Lake. Leo Boatman, 19, of Largo, was charged with the murders in what police believe was a random killing.

The forest again received attention in May when a 23-year-old woman was attacked by an alligator. Annmarie Campbell of Paris, Tenn., was believed to be snorkeling in Juniper Creek when she was killed.

Lint said those incidents have brought attention to the bigger issues of the forest. The most significant is that some forest patrons have lost respect for rules there, he said.

The tightening of the rules and increase in officers and fines will be accompanied by a public information campaign to change those attitudes, he said.

"We want people to have pride and respect and ownership of the land," he said.