Wisconsin curtails popular nude beach after years of sexual hijinks

Wisconsin officials drastically reduced the operating hours for a popular nude beach in an effort to stop years' worth of reports of illicit sexual activity and drug use on the premises.

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) ordered that Mazomanie Beach and its nearby islands and wooded areas be closed on weekdays.

Estimates from the DNR said that as many as 70,000 people have visited Mazomanie from around the country during the summer season. One nudist advocate group, the Naturist Action Committee, criticized the agency for not consulting regular beachgoers first.

"Honestly, we're on their side when it comes to enforcing things that are lewd and lascivious," said the group's executive director, Bob Morton. "There's something to be said about consulting the users of the place. There's got to be more to this somewhere."

Morton added that the ban will also hurt people who go to the beach for non-offensive hobbies like fishing or bird-watching.

According to The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the reduced hours will be in effect through Sept. 15. the park will remain open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.

"Our goal is to have everybody feel safe and comfortable," said Nate Kroeplin, a supervising conservation warden for the DNR's office in Madison.

DNR officials in Dane County, Wisconsin, where the beach is located, said that 83 of the 92 citations issued for drug-related offenses or disorderly conduct at Mazomanie between 2008 and 2012 were handed down on weekdays, when the beach has less traffic. That includes 19 citations for sexual activity during a weeklong surveillance period in summer 2012.

The AP reported that past arrest reports detail stories of "oral sex" and "mutual masturbation" on the beach, and past efforts to curtail the activity -- blocking vehicles from entering the beach, bans on camping and closing off various areas around the beach -- had a limited effect.

["Couple with surfboards on beach" via Shutterstock]