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Increased recreational use of the Yampa River, particularly on the part of tubers, finally has reached the point that aggressive enforcement is needed.

The scene last weekend at the Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area provides an example: Car loads of people toting inner tubes for a lengthy float into downtown Steamboat Springs inundated the wildlife area's parking lots. Tubers ignored Colorado Division of Wildlife officers who told them a $10 habitat stamp was necessary to park there and that all watercraft launched in the wildlife area must be used for fishing only.

Such a scene is more commonplace at Rotary Park, off Mount Werner Road adjacent to the eastbound onramp for U.S. Highway 40. Once the parking lot is full, cars line up along Mount Werner Road and tubers flood into a section of the river popular with anglers.

Parking is not the only issue brought on by the popularity of tubing. Reports of littering and alcohol consumption on the river are on the rise, posing health concerns for the river and safety concerns for the tubers.

There's no question that tubing the Yampa River is a fun and inexpensive activity for locals and visitors. And it's easy to support a recreational activity that encourages children and others to enjoy Steamboat Springs' abundant natural resources.

But the river is a resource that must be shared and preserved for all users, particularly in a manner that doesn't endanger the ecosystems the Yampa supports. That goal was a primary reason for the 2004 adoption of the Yampa River Management Plan, which seeks to mitigate the impact of increased recreational use of the Yampa within city limits.

The plan spells out use limits, access points, rules, regulations and safety measures, among others, for river users. Those guidelines are aimed specifically at licensed commercial operators, who by most accounts have done an exemplary job of following the management plan. Regulation of private river users is more difficult. Although the city can recommend that private tubers access the river from Fetcher Park or below, they can't enforce it.

Recognizing that, the city and the DOW have asked the community to follow the management plan while also promising increased enforcement of laws such as parking violations, alcohol consumption, littering and nudity.

As the Yampa River Management Plan foresaw in 2004, river use would get to the point that a plan was necessary to protect the health of our spectacular natural asset well into the future. Not surprisingly, the plan alone won't protect the river.

It therefore is prudent and necessary for the city and DOW to ramp up enforcement of the law as it relates to river usage. Doing so will make the river experience more enjoyable for all while also preserving our prized waterway.