Chamber supports alcohol ban

Moses Lake chamber hopes ban will bring families back to dunes

EPHRATA — The Moses Lake Area Chamber of Commerce has joined with Grant County officials who say enforcing the alcohol ban at the Moses Lake sand dunes must continue.

In a letter last month to the Grant County Board of Commissioners the chamber said they agreed with both the commissioners and the Grant Count Sheriff's Office that the overall good of the situation is to continue to enforce the alcohol ban.

Earlier this year the chamber asked for modifications to the ban. They posed the idea of allowing alcohol inside a designated campground within the sand dunes area.

Neither the sheriff's office nor the commissioners budged from their stance of continued enforcement.

Now the chamber has said they will begin recruiting volunteers who will work in conjunction with the sheriff's office at the sand dunes.

The volunteers would work during the busiest weekends, manning stations and passing out tourism information. They would also distribute information describing the rules for those visiting the sand dunes.

"(Volunteers) would be one of many voices in getting a positive word out about what this area has to offer," wrote chamber manager Beverly Shuford in the Feb. 23 letter.

Commission Chairman Richard Stevens felt encouraged by the chamber's support for the alcohol ban at the sand dunes.

"It's certainly good to have them respecting and understanding and looking proactively at doing something differently," Stevens said today.

Stevens said the chamber appears to be working on attracting more families to the sand dunes for recreation.

The commissioners, Stevens said, receive support for the alcohol ban every week. They would like to maintain the ban for another year or two, Stevens said, to observe the use and see if families return to the sand dunes for recreation.