Authorities concerned about the Illinois River are now taking steps to protect it on two fronts — environmental and social.
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The former is a lawsuit filed by the attorney general that seeks to reduce the amount of poultry-related pollution in the river. The latter is a rule approved by the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission aimed at partyers.
The commission made a wise, and needed, move when it voted recently to ban alcohol at four public areas on the Illinois River near Tahlequah. Those locations are the U.S. 62 bridge, the U.S. 412 bridge, Round Hollow and Todd public access. This means visitors will still be able to have their good times this summer, they'll just have to curb their behavior at those few spots along the way.
It's a fair compromise by the commission, which has been looking for ways to maintain the river's appeal as a fun and relaxing destination. Arrests for public drunkenness, fighting and other rowdiness tend to hurt that cause, and those things have been happening far too frequently.
The rule, which takes effect July 1, doesn't apply to the many other public access areas along the river, and it won't keep people from drinking a cold one while floating or paddling down river. It only prohibits people from having an open container or drinking beer in those four places. "We just want to carve out a few areas for families to go,” commission administrator Ed Fite told the Tulsa World. That's not asking too much.
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