*edited to say "Graphic Info included"
Just from a local's perspective, here's an article from the local paper (Daytona Beach) FYI:
CANAVERAL NATIONAL SEASHORE -- The Boy Scout troop's request was innocent enough -- the children wanted to hike from one end of Canaveral National Seashore to the other. Yet a park ranger discouraged the youngsters, fearing they might see more than turtles and seashells.
"I told them, 'Well, I can't tell you not to come, but you will encounter some nude men along the way," said Ranger Eric Lugo, a 13-year veteran who heads the park's law enforcement. "And they may be having sex."
The Boy Scouts made other plans.
Canaveral National Seashore is a place long touted for its beauty and its privacy, but not everyone comes to this oasis for the same
reasons.
Thousands visit yearly, including nude bathers who have been swimming on the National Seashore's secluded beaches for the past three decades.
But, Lugo, who patrols the 24 miles of beach along Canaveral along with seven other rangers, says he frequently must write tickets --mostly to male couples -- for having public sex.
Nude sunbathers traditionally gather south of Apollo's southernmost parking lot and north of Playalinda's most northern lot.
Rangers issued 120 citations for public sex at Apollo and Playalinda beaches last year, Lugo said. Thirty have been handed out so far this year. The problem with public sex has become so bad over the last few years that Lugo said he often dissuades tourists from visiting the area.
Rangers also say they've occasionally run across people photographing the naked children of naturists.
"This is a real problem for us," Lugo said. "What better place for a
pervert to come to?"
The rangers say they're frustrated because they can't screen visitors at the entrance of the national park in order to weed out sexual predators or people who intend to have public sex.
"Among the people we have issued citations to in the past, there have been two or three in there that were registered sex offenders," said chief park ranger Tim Morgan. "But that's not something we can prevent. We can't even prevent people from bringing cameras into the park because it's a national park and it's just not going to happen."
Anyone caught photographing a child for pornography is arrested by Volusia County or Brevard County sheriffs' deputies, who share
jurisdiction with the National Park Service at Canaveral National
Seashore.
"Sometimes I will come upon someone with a video camera who looks like he's photographing a child with his family," Lugo said. "That's when it's time to call the Sheriff's Office."
While there are no areas officially designated for nude bathing at the park, rangers do not harass naturists -- people who opt to go nude in social settings -- for being in the buff, Lugo said.
"The naturists have been coming here for years," Morgan said. "It's a tradition."
Volusia law prohibits public nudity elsewhere in the county. Anyone caught in their birthday suit on a Volusia beach or park would be charged with disorderly conduct and could be cited for a more serious offense depending on the circumstances, said Kevin Sweat, director of the Beach Patrol.
"We haven't had any reports of it happening for all of 2003 and to
date," Sweat said. "But I'm sure it happens without our knowing about it."
Although Apollo Beach is in Volusia County, it's considered part of
the national park and rangers cannot enforce county ordinances.
The rangers adhere to federal laws that prohibit "disorderly conduct" in national parks but do not specifically address nudity. Florida state law prohibits public nudity, but rangers do not enforce that law unless the nude person is also engaged in lewd and lascivious conduct.
When similar problems cropped up at Cape Cod National Seashore in the mid-70s, Cape Cod townspeople lobbied to outlaw nudity there, said head ranger Steve Prokop.
"We got a lot of input from the local town folk because they wanted to put an end to the nudity," said Prokop, who blamed the problem on opportunists taking advantage of the fact that naturists also used the beach. "The statute that was passed in the mid-70s has helped a great deal, but we haven't eliminated the problem altogether."
Members of the Central Florida Naturists, who most often frequent
Canaveral National Seashore, say they're just as upset about these issues as the park rangers are. The group's Web site warns its members against having sex on the beach because it is not part of the group's philosophy.
People caught having public sex on the beach can be charged with a misdemeanor offense, which could mean a $500 fine and a notice to appear in U.S. District Court in Orlando.
Rangers say roughly 80 percent of the bathers at Apollo and Playalinda are men. A spokeswoman for a local gay organization based in Ormond Beach said members do not want people to associate the incidents occurring at the national park with gay or lesbian lifestyles.
"We don't have a problem with the nudity, but we do have a problem with children being photographed and with public sex on the beach," said Bobbie Pruitt with Volusia Gay Parent. "But I don't want people to think that this is a gay issue. There are heterosexuals out there having public sex and heterosexuals can also photograph children."
Members of the Central Florida Naturists say they support the rangers, but say the rangers are somewhat limited in their ability to keep beach activities wholesome. The Naturists have even been known to take matters into their own hands.
"We've taken cameras and thrown them in the water," said Frank
Cervasio, spokesman for the 200-member group. "The rangers are short-handed and they don't always come out and issue citations. I've brought my grandson out here and we don't want that kind of thing happening."
Lugo recalled a scuffle several years ago between naturists and a
person who was attempting to photograph a nude child.
"Taking someone's camera and throwing it in the water is a crime," Lugo said, "but it's a misdemeanor. Photographing a child for pornography is a felony. Usually, when an individual gets his camera thrown in the water for that reason, he does not complain to police."
