Prosecutors seek $38K from fisherman convicted of Platte River tampering

Apr. 26—HONOR — Sentencing for a Frankfort man convicted in federal court of misdemeanor tampering and vandalism of the Platte River has been delayed while a judge considers restitution arguments.

Andrew Blair Howard, 62, of Frankfort, was charged last May by U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten for actions prosecutors allege took place near the mouth of the Platte River on Aug. 15, 2022.

"Mr. Howard had a policy dispute with the National Park Service and took matters into his own hands, breaking the law rather than using lawful means to advocate for his position," Totten said in February when Howard was convicted.

The Platte River flows through the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore before emptying into Lake Michigan; Sleeping Bear is managed by the National Park Service and is federal property, which landed the case in federal court.

Howard, in court documents filed by his attorney, Tony Valentine, said he respects the natural environment, that the channel was actually dug by others and that his actions were just to move sand and rocks so his boat could pass through.

Prosecutors are seeking $38,000 in restitution — $17,130.46 for a Coast Guard helicopter flight, $4,030.70 for flight support, $4,108.72 to pay for a hydrologist, $8,759.57 for natural resources personnel and $3,947.71 in travel costs for expert witnesses.

A sentencing memo outlined how prosecutors believe the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act applies in this case because a government agency, in this case the National Park Service and the Coast Guard, can be considered crime victims under the Act.

"But for Mr. Howard's unlawful dredging of the river, NPS would not have had to undertake efforts to assess and remediate the damage and the Coast Guard would not have been required to aid and conduct a flyover to obtain the necessary imagery," assistant U.S. attorney Lauren F. Biksacky said in sentencing memo.

A National Park Service ranger, wearing a body camera, apparently witnessed Howard digging with a shovel and adding rocks to a dam, telling the ranger he'd experienced issues navigating his boat and was "enhancing" the river, a trial brief states.

Beginning in the late 1960s, the State of Michigan and the National Park Service began regularly dredging the Platte River from the boat launch to the mouth of the river, allowing those fishing for salmon to travel from Platte River to Platte Bay and Lake Michigan.

The decision to dredge followed a harrowing 1967 storm on the big lake in which seven people fishing for salmon drowned and, at one point, 42 were unaccounted for when their boats overturned and they couldn't reach safer waters in Platte Bay.

"Hundreds of boats were beached, dozens were awash near shore as late as Sunday morning after capsizing or being unable to reach safety on the beach," the Record-Eagle reported on Sept. 25, 1967. "The search for other victims and efforts to account for all persons caught on the lake in hundreds of boats by the storm continued today."

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was created in 1970, extending along an approximately 35-mile stretch of Lake Michigan's eastern coastline and the Platte River flows through about four miles of the park before emptying into Lake Michigan.

In 2015, the National Park Service released results of an environmental assessment study which examined long-term effects of annual dredging and offered alternatives, including ending dredging and restoring the riverbank to its natural path and elevations, as previously reported.

In 2016, the state's Department of Natural Resources was set to dredge the mouth of the Platte under a park services permit, but that didn't happen after park officials cited environmental and tourism concerns.

The National Park Service then stopped dredging the river altogether, a still-debated decision as acknowledged in the government's trial brief in the Howard case.

"This decision to stop the dredging was — and continues to be — controversial in northern Michigan," prosecutors previously said.

"Without dredging, sediment and sand builds up at the mouth of the Platte River that reduces boaters' ability to navigate through the Platte River into Platte Bay in Lake Michigan," they said.

Those opposing the plan have said when the river is not dredged, it can become a safety issue because boats cannot get onto or off the lake.

Arguing against the $38,000 in restitution, Valentine said, in a response filed April 10, that the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act does not apply to the offenses his client was convicted of. "The government pursued no cleanup or in this matter — no restoration of the channel to Lake Michigan," the defendant's response to the sentencing memo states.

"Such helicopter and NPS/Natural Resources/hydrologist costs could therefore not be a subset of either the costs of cleanup or restoration of the beach," the response stated. "Restitution for these things should not be ordered."

Prosecutors are also seeking an unspecified probationary period for Howard of no more than five years, during which time he would not be allowed to visit any national parks.

An April 17 sentencing hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Raymond S. Kent was rescheduled for May 15.