National Park Service Considering Proposal for Tobacco Free Beaches at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area

Date: February 19, 2010
Contact: Jim Milestone, [phone]

Public Meeting:

Tuesday Evening, February 23, 2010

City Hall, 777 Cypress Avenue

Community Room, 6 p.m.

The public is invited to attend a meeting to discuss a proposal to make the four designated swimming beaches at Whiskeytown Lake tobacco free. The pending rule would designate picnic areas and parking lots and the forested areas immediately surrounding the popular beaches as areas where the public would be allowed to smoke. The pending rule would prohibit individuals from smoking on the sandy portion of the beaches at Brandy Creek, East Beach, Oak Bottom and Whiskey Creek Group Picnic Beach where the majority of park visitors sun bathe and congregate.

Each of these beaches is a designated swimming beach and serve as the premier beaches of Whiskeytown Lake. The majority of users at these beaches are women with children. Approximately 75% of the adult beach users do not smoke cigarettes. The National Park Service is considering this action to protect visitors from the carcinogenetic impacts of second hand cigarette smoke and to reduce cigarette butt litter in the sand.

Visitors who wish to smoke will either be directed to smaller coves and shoreline areas away from large public congregations such as the designated swimming beaches, or asked to move to the parking areas and nearby picnic areas a short distance from the beaches. There is approximately 37 miles of shoreline making up Whiskeytown Lake. Approximately, 6/10th of a mile of the shoreline make up the total distance of all four designated swimming beaches combined.

The public meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Community Room at Redding City Hall on Tuesday evening, February 23, 2010.  The meeting is scheduled to end at 8 p.m. Redding City Hall is located at 777 Cypress Avenue.

For comments or questions, please feel free to contact the Office of the Superintendent at 530-242-3410, or write to Superintendent, Whiskeytown NRA, P.O.   Box 188, Whiskeytown CA 96095.  To email the Superintendent, please click here.

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