More than 900 people crowded into the Lula Lake Land Trust core property on one sunny March Saturday. It was the first nice spring day after a long winter and one of only two days the property would be open to the public that month. Hundreds of cars lined the drive down to a parking area near the scenic falls and lake that sit on the private property. As the area filled with cars, people parked wherever they could, destroying native plant species, trampling grass and parking in a floodplain.
“We were totally overwhelmed with the number of people,” Lula Lake Land Trust Executive Director Mike Pollock said.
The group decided it needed to cut off entrance for the day. It could no longer manage the crowd and the land couldn’t handle the sheer volume of visitors. They closed the gate that sits at the entrance of the property to block access.
It didn’t matter.
Fifty-seven vehicles, by Pollock’s count, parked on the side of Lula Lake Road – where cars often barrel through at more than 60 mph. The visitors parked along the road and destroyed replanted American Chestnut trees before crossing the street, walking around the closed gate and letting themselves in.