Rowdy canoeists irk Fryeburg residents Annual problem renews cry for crackdown

FRYEBURG – It’s an annual problem on the Saco River – rowdy, intoxicated canoeists vandalize campgrounds, argue with locals, and leave piles of litter behind.

This year’s spate of alcohol-related incidents, including the drowning death of a Massachusetts man, have some residents renewing the cry for a crackdown on such behavior.

“It’s a sore subject for all the taxpayers in the town of Fryeburg,” said resident George Bucknell.

Some residents, including Bucknell, want to charge fees to use the river. Anything, he says, that won’t mean his tax dollars are being spent on police or rescue services for misbehaving tourists.

Several recent incidents have residents clamoring for a permanent solution to an ongoing problem.

In July, police were called after swearing, drunken canoeists climbed ashore at a boys’ summer camp in Fryeburg, then physically threatened the counselors who asked them to leave.

Only days later, members of another intoxicated group were angry about fees charged for a campground and threw picnic tables into a bonfire and shoved a park employee.

Last week, Edward Landry, 35, of Somerville, Mass., was found drowned in the river by several kayakers. He had been camping with about 14 people on the river and had been drinking heavily, said Mark Latti of the Maine Warden Service.

“Everybody wants more patrols,” said Larry Kiesman, a longtime riverfront landowner and former state legislator. “The question is how are we going to pay for it?”

The Saco River became a hot tourist spot for paddlers about 15 years ago, and a handful of alcohol-related incidents occur every summer.

But authorities say rowdy drinkers are a tiny fraction of the paddlers, who primarily come from other parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts.

“Even if you put 20 officers out there, someone’s going to get out of hand,” said Lt. Nat Berry of the Maine Warden Service.

Police regularly monitor the river, including patrolling launch areas and setting up roadblocks nearby to check for the transport of excessive beer, said Fryeburg Police Chief Dave Miles.

For seven days this summer, a warden and an officer will also patrol the river. The pair’s job includes checking canoes for safety equipment and looking for inebriated paddlers, Berry said.

In Maine, it is illegal to drink and operate a watercraft. Passengers, technically, can be intoxicated, but they can’t drink in public.