The Harrison County Commissioners Court took action Tuesday to ensure the safety of boaters and residents at Caddo Lake following multiple arrests and a crash that sunk a boat this past weekend.
The court voted, 5-0, to approve the placement of “No Wake” markers, indicating that all motorboats shall operate at a “No Wake” speed at 32’43’16’N 94’09’46’W located on Carney Canal and 32’43’13’N 94’09’44’W at the intersection of Big Cypress River and Carney Canal.
The action was approved on the heels of a multiple arrests made this past weekend, when dozens of boaters turned out for the annual Father’s Day weekend Mud Boat drag races. Organizers had cancelled the event due to rising water, but boaters still turned out in droves. Fortunately, law enforcement was on hand for extra enforcement as part of the BUI-DWI Saturation Patrol Initiative at Caddo Lake on June 14-15, with game wardens, state park police, sheriff’s office and DPS officers there.
“There were 29 citations issued, 78 warnings, five BUIs, two DWIs of minors and one public intoxication and five boater assists, and we had one boat crash and the vessel sunk,” Harrison County Chief Deputy Hal Reavis said.
The five who were arrested for boating while intoxicated were Christopher Wayne Cook of Vivian, Louisiana; Robert Haak of Royal, Arkansas; Melbourn Troy Baumgartner of Warren; Zachariah Todd Fecht of Weatherford; and Charles Jonathan Ables of Duck Hill, Mississippi.
Residents’ Concerns
The chaos heightened concerns for lakefront property owners such as Stan and Michelle Brannon, who spoke before the commissioners court Tuesday, requesting the implementation of a “No Wake Zone.”
Michelle Brannon, who spoke on behalf of herself and her husband, are property owners on Pine Island Road at Caddo Lake. She said their property, which has been in the family since the early 1950s, lies almost directly across the river channel from the entrance to Carney Canal.
“Carney Canal was dredged a couple of years ago, resulting in a deeper and broader opening to the bayous previously inaccessible to many boats,” said Brannon. “As a result, the confluence of the river channel and Carney Canal has become a high-traffic area on the lake. Unfortunately, this merge occurs in the middle of a blind curve in the river channel, with tall trees preventing the ability to see boats coming from the channel or the canal.
“Additionally, there is no signage or hazard markers at the confluence,” Brannon described.
She said Caddo Lake is already difficult to navigate, especially for visitors.
For this reason, she believes good signage and buoys would mitigate the hazard. According to literature she shared, buoys and channel markers function similar to lanes on a highway, designating the safest navigable channel and marking any hazards on the water.
“This area has become popular with kayakers,” said Brannon. “In addition to the state park, a couple of new kayak and canoe rental businesses have opened near her. Large motorboats run fast up and down the river channel, pulling tubes filled with children, wake boarders, and barges full of people enjoying the lake. Smaller motorboats frequently enter and exit the canal, cutting across the river channel, often at a high speed.”
“On a typical weekend, we see many near collisions and instances of reckless driving,” said Brannon.
Brannon said over the last few years, they have also noticed an increase in small flat-bottom aluminum boats with oversized motors, commonly called “mud boats.” Last weekend’s mud boat racing saw a substantial number of boats, she said.
“Extra law enforcement was needed to control reckless and illegal behavior, including racing (outside of the official race area), excessive speed, and boating under the influence. We did not go out on the lake; we only witnessed what had passed by our lake house. We understand that there was a serious boat wreck and multiple BUI arrests.
“What we witnessed from our front yard was beyond concern,” said Brannon.
Brannon brought the court pictures taken over a two-hour span late Saturday afternoon.
“From the pictures, you observe many thing, including excessive speed, racing, overloaded boats, no kill-switches, multiple unsecured extra gas cans, open alcohol containers, and not single life jacket. This activity occurred all day and well past midnight. What you can’t see is the noise. Most of these boats intentionally have open cowlings and no mufflers. The noise was enough to rattle the windows and walls. There was no way the boat operators could hear another boat approaching around the blind curve. It is a miracle that we did not observe a collision.”
Brannon also mentioned a horrific boating accident that occurred a few months ago in the very same location, resulting in the serious injury of the operator and a passenger.
“It wasn’t the first, and it won’t be the last,” said Brannon. “Harrison and Marion counties and the Cypress Valley Navigation Board have a duty to act to prevent more collisions, injuries and deaths. These are preventable accidents, and any death is one too many.”
Boat safety is particularly concerning as they are parents of 17-year-old son, who lost his life due to negligent boating incident on Lake o’ The Pines.
“I am calling on you to do something,” she told the court. “Prevent a future death.”
Lake resident Kenny Hudson also addressed the court, noting his love for Caddo. He said people have approached him with concerns, too, expressing that they are afraid that someone would be killed if something isn’t done soon.
“This (past) weekend was the Mud Boat races. We know we’ve had a lot of assaults on Caddo Lake vegetation. This (past) weekend we had a human assault on Caddo Lake,” said Hudson.
Hudson commended game wardens and HCSO officials for a job well done, responding to the incidents on the lake Father’s Day weekend.
“This (past) weekend we had an all out assault,” he said. “I want to say thank you (to law enforcement officials). The game wardens worked very diligently. The sheriff’s office’s office supplied Westy Meisenheimer. And I watched him the whole time. I mean he did a great job and put in a lot of time and a lot of effort trying to solve this. And out of that, there were a lot of criminal charges (brought).”
Hudson said he believes Caddo Lake is being used as an obstacle course and believes something needs to be done, particularly with the noise pollution.
“The noise pollution on a jewel like Caddo Lake is really doing a detrimental thing,” he said. “This starts usually about 9 in the morning and usually goes until about 4 the next morning and it sounds like, at my house, if I’m directly in front of Carney Canal, it sounds like I’m living right now to a helicopter pad.
“It’s a public lake and I understand that, but the noise pollution is out of hand,” said Hudson.
Taking Action
Pct. 1 County Commissioner William Hatfield echoed Brannon’s sentiments, and noted the county’s readiness to take action.
“The boating traffic is something that, people go down there to have a good time — not to get hurt,” he said.
He said that Hudson had approached him several weeks ago after witnessing a horrible wreck at Carney and Cypress River.
“We started taking action then,” said Hatfield. “This is very, very important to me that this is being enacted just to save one life. And the guys that were in the wreck that Kenny brought my attention to, they have life changing injuries.
“So I just can’t thank you enough for coming and sharing your thoughts with us,” he said to Brannon.
He said the boat traffic on the canal is putting stress on law enforcement. Hatfield suggested they also seek the Cypress Valley Navigation District’s help in resolving the issue of what he considers “trail rides on water.”
HCSO Chief Deputy Reavis said that the law enforcement coalition will be back out on Caddo Lake for another enforcement period for Independence Day. He stressed all need to practice boater safety.
“If you’re going to operate a boat, don’t drink, be responsible, and be careful on the lake,” said Reavis.
