MUNCIE, Ind. (AP): A central Indiana city is taking steps to reduce its liability and prevent winter sledding accidents.

Muncie's parks department has placed bales of straw around trees at the bottom of a popular hill in McCulloch Park. The department also is putting up signs that warn people to sled at their own risk.

The moves come as communities around the country struggle to ease liability concerns surrounding the winter pastime.

Dubuque, Iowa, has banned sledding in most parks to protect the city from lawsuits. Locally, Columbia City has made sledding off limits on certain hills and warns people at other sites to sled at their own risk.

Studies show more than 20,000 children annually are treated at emergency rooms for sledding injuries.