State park officials say the public doesn’t support a ban on beach smoking, so they won’t recommend it. That’s good news, and we urge the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission, which makes the final decision, to agree when it meets Nov. 19.

Public sentiment apparently helped officials reach this wise decision. Parks department spokesman Chris Havel said comments were nearly evenly split, with 178 in favor of the ban and 165 opposed, according to Salem’s Statesman-Journal newspaper.

That was different from an earlier discussion about a smoking ban for trail and picnic areas in state parks, which received greater public support and will take effect in January 2015.

Officials considered a beach smoking ban in hopes of reducing litter and protecting visitors from secondhand smoke, but they worried enforcement would be difficult because so much of the coast’s 362 miles is wild and isolated.

Given the lack of clear public support, Havel said officials will try to accomplish their goals with signs and website education. If those don’t work, however, he said a ban could be considered again at a later time.

The effort for these smoking bans follows a 2012 executive order from Gov. John Kitzhaber, which encouraged finding ways to protect visitors from secondhand smoke, even in the great outdoors. Parks officials have also said cigarette butts are a huge problem in public areas.

We agree with commenter Theresa Roberts, of Tillamook County, who wrote: “Once we begin banning smoking on the beach, what will we ban next? Will that include campfires or dogs or anything that annoys one group of people?”

As we wrote in September in opposing the ban, there’s little logic that smoking is the one thing that deserves to be banned. If we’re worried about smoke, why not ban campfires? If we’re worried about litter, why not ban food wrappers? If we’re worried about public safety, should we mandate sunscreen, or perhaps demand proof that swimmers know how to swim?

We’re delighted that public comments have stemmed this particular tide of nanny-state regulation, and we urge all beachgoers to cooperate by being considerate of others so we won’t face another round of proposed regulations in the near future.