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Citing continued public sex and drug use at the site, state officials have stripped nudist groups of their access to Wisconsin’s only nude beach.

The Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday announced that the famous Mazo Beach has closed to public use, effective immediately.

For decades, the agency has tried to curb unsightly behaviors at the beach on the Wisconsin River near Mazomanie by prohibiting camping, scaling back hours, restricting surrounding wooded areas and closing it on weekdays. But sex and drug use have persisted, and Brian Hefty, a natural resources area supervisor, said enforcement has become too consuming of DNR staff time.

“This is a remote part of Wisconsin that has seen a pattern of illegal activity. That in and of itself has made it difficult to curb the illegal activity,” Hefty said. “To enforce this area, license dollars have been used to do that.”

The beach is located in a 140-acre state natural area, about three miles north of the village of Mazomanie in northwestern Dane County. Prior to Tuesday’s closing of the entire area, the DNR periodically conducted surveillance stings to track the extent of illicit behavior.