I don't get it either. Apparently the internet has no purpose in terms of self policing. After all, "they know who they are, and so do those who give a damn".
Imo, anyone truly interested in protecting spots that are in obvious danger of being lost needs to make efforts to work with authorities to set up some basic rules and work to give the authorities the ability to impose fines on individuals, as opposed to ban an entire group. I can't see the cops passing up the ability to make a few hundred a day myself (or have a non-problem if people don't break the simple rules). In this case, it's clear that no one was suppose to be in the swim zones. Why not just let authorities profit from the few who break this simple rule? It's probably harder than this, but maybe not.
I personally am not a fan of cops, rules or regs. BUT, if it starts to become clear that a spot might be lost in St. Pete, I would be the first stating to the authorities that most riders pose no threat to others in the area and that maybe we could reach a compromise to a ban. I did that once years ago, and if necessary, will do it again.
In the case of local beaches with "beach cops", discussing very basic rules with associated fines seem like the best approach. Primarily because it pays for authorities' time to deal with yahoos and gives them incentive (money) to deal with individuals as opposed to banning groups.
Again, not a huge fan of talking with authorities, but if a few well spoken and responsible riders do this proactively, then it seems better than having the least well spoken and least responsible rider cussing at an authority person after they rode like a jerk. At this point in time, I see no problems in St. Pete and therefore have begun no discussions.
As I said though, about 7 years ago we got banned from North Beach (Ft. DeSoto) and it seemed like East Beach was next. I talked to the park ranger and and it turned out well. Primarily because he was level headed.
I think when presenting such an argument, it is important to persuade the "guy in charge" that indeed a vast majority of kiters pose no threat and policing of them would be relatively easy. If you can't do that, your argument is doomed.
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