Protect the Sand Dunes During Sea & Sky Spectacular

Hello,

I really enjoyed the Sea & Sky Spectacular in Jacksonville Beach Nov. 2-4.  The weather was great, the show was fantastic and the event was well-attended by so many people who had an opportunity to enjoy all the great things about our beach city.  However, I was very upset to see that many people ignored the signage at the beach ends that clearly state that you must stay off the dunes.  My husband and I did whatever we could to ask people to get off the dunes because they are "protected".  But, that didn't seem to stop numerous people from doing it!

I appreciate that the City of Jax Beach put orange fencing around the dunes near the Seawalk Pavillion and that there were Fish & Wildlife Officers working in some locations where there wasn't orange fencing.  I also understand that there were volunteers that were supposed to be helping keep people off the dunes.  However, we still saw numerous people trampling the dunes just one block north of the pier where the VIP seating and center stage were located! 

Some ideas I have had about how to better protect the dunes at an event are:

1) Get surf groups, Sierra Club, Sea Turtle Patrol, lifeguards, and other local organizations to provide volunteers to monitor the dunes throughout the event.

2) Post corrugated plastic signs (like campaign signs) around the dunes where there is no orange fencing, with the signs reading "stay off the dunes".

3) Have volunteers hand out educational brochures about the importance of staying off the dunes.  Although this may be a great way to get information to people, I would also be concerned that people would just throw them on the beach and create a litter problem!

Does anyone out there have any suggestions for how we can "educate" people about the importance of staying out of the dunes as well as keep people out of the dunes during future events?  I would certainly like to share these suggestions with the City so that our precious natural areas can be protected in the future.