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A man says he and his son were targeted because they are members of Save Our Sandbar. Officers say they were burning signs.
By CARY DAVIS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 29, 2002
ANCLOTE -- A father and his son were arrested Monday on a popular offshore sandbar, accused of burning signposts that were erected last week to protect endangered birds from recreational boaters and dogs.
The arrests are the latest twist in an escalating turf war between state officials committed to protecting the sandbar and boaters determined to play and party on it free of government interference.
August Lausberg Sr., 42, and his son, August Lausberg Jr., 21, both of Hudson, were arrested around noon Monday by agents with the state Department of Environmental Protection. The men are facing charges of arson, a felony, and misdemeanor criminal mischief. They were released from jail Monday afternoon after each posted $5,500 bail.
"They had an agenda," Lausberg Sr. said Tuesday of the DEP's officers. "I believe we were set up."
Lausberg Sr. said he and his son were targeted because they are members of a citizens group formed to fight the state's efforts to restrict use of the sandbar, located just north of Anclote Key. The group, Save Our Sandbar (SOS), has several hundred members, some of whom vowed to ignore the state's rules over the holiday weekend. One member even posted a message on the group's Web site urging others to destroy the signs marking bird nests.
According to arrest reports, the Lausbergs on Sunday night burned state-posted signs that surrounded a protected bird refuge on the sandbar. The reports said the value of the burned signs was between $200 and $1,000.
August Lausberg Sr. said the officer got his facts wrong. Lausberg said he picked up two loose boards off the sand and added them to his campfire. There were no signs attached to the boards, he said.
"We had a campfire going," he said. "We found some two-by-fours, not signs, just like driftwood."
Officers could not have seen what he burned, he said, because they were all offshore in a flotilla of boats. Lausberg Sr. said his son was not involved in burning the boards.
Officials with DEP and the parks service did not return calls from the Times on Tuesday.
The arson charge carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison. The criminal mischief charge is punishable by up to a year in the county jail.
State parks officials earlier this year announced their intention to implement rules restricting use of the sandbar. The rules prohibit dogs, overnight camping, alcohol and campfires. But SOS members say enforcement of the rules had been lax while the group negotiated with the state for less-restrictive measures.
The rules are necessary, the officials say, to protect the growing number of endangered birds on the sandbar. Last week, officials cordoned off the nesting areas with signs and a rope.
As recently as five years ago, the sandbar was submerged at high tides. But it has steadily increased in length and elevation, and now grass has begun to grow on it.
Predictably, it also has experienced a growth in popularity with Pasco and Pinellas boaters, who have been accustomed to enjoying the sandbar without any restrictions.
Lausberg Sr. said the bird signs amounted to a "land grab" by state officials. That's the only explanation he can come up with, he said, because at extreme high tides this past weekend, the water covered the marked-off areas.
"I'm not an anti-environmentalist," he said. "But where did the birds go? Are they underwater birds?
"And here I am facing a felony arson charge."
-- Cary Davis covers courts in west Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. His e-mail address is cbdavis@sptimes.com.