The U.S. Coast Guard and Pierce County (Wash.) Sheriff’s Department are "preparing a security plan that will bar all boat traffic within 1,000 yards of shore" on the Puget Sound during June's U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, according to Ashton & Grimley of the Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE. A draft rule published by the Coast Guard showed it is part of the "overall security plan meant to protect the Open’s projected 65,000 daily visitors from 'potential criminal and terrorist activity.'” USGA and law enforcement officials have "not released the security plan, but some pieces have come to light such as parking restrictions and a ban on drone aircraft around the course." Sheriff's Department Capt. Scott Mielcarek described a "marine buffer zone as a rectangle running along roughly 3,500 yards of shoreline into the Puget Sound." It "would be enforced" June 14-22. Officers said that it should "leave enough room for commercial and recreational traffic to move north and south in the Puget Sound while giving law enforcement agencies a way to manage boaters." The buffer also means boaters "will not be able to ferry people across the water and drop them on or near the shores of Chambers Creek properties" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 4/8).
