Grand Rapids Reporter

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten announced today that Andrew Blair Howard, 63, of Sparta and Frankfort, Michigan, was sentenced to 60 months’ probation and ordered to pay $22,472.22 in restitution to the National Park Service and U.S. Coast Guard. Additionally, he must cover $3,947.71 in court-related costs. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ray Kent also banned Mr. Howard from all National Park Service properties as a term of his probation.

The government did not seek imprisonment for Mr. Howard, who was found guilty at trial by Judge Kent.

U.S. Attorney Mark Totten stated: “Mr. Howard had a policy dispute with the National Park Service over whether to dredge the Platte River. Reasonable people can disagree on the best course of action, but Congress gave NPS the power to decide. While Mr. Howard had the right to disagree and advocate for his position, he did not have the right to take the law into his own hands and force his favored result.”

Howard was convicted in February 2024 of two federal misdemeanors related to tampering and vandalism at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on August 15, 2022. On that date, National Park Service law enforcement officers investigated reports of a diversion of the Platte River near its mouth where it meets Lake Michigan.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Howard used a shovel to dig sediment and rocks from the river basin and stacked large rocks on a dam to divert the river’s natural flow toward a newly created channel leading out to Lake Michigan—contrary to an NPS decision.

The National Park Service deployed personnel and Coast Guard resources to evaluate impacts on the lakeshore's habitats and wildlife due to this diversion. The area is home to protected wetlands, coastal dunes, plants, endangered animal species like the piping plover—a small migratory bird—and threatened plant species such as Pitcher’s thistle.

NPS staff observed significant ecological damage including drying wetland vegetation within and along the river due to changes in water levels caused by Howard's actions.

The unauthorized diversion also allowed large boats access into Platte Bay; within days it expanded approximately 200 feet wide due to natural water forces acting upon it.

“Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was created in 1970 to preserve and protect this amazing place,” said Superintendent Scott Tucker. “The National Park Service appreciates the support of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in enforcing laws that help protect this place for future generations.”

The case was investigated by the National Park Service with Assistant United States Attorney Lauren F. Biksacky prosecuting on behalf of the United States.