Dog owners and DogPAC want to be seen as the victims in this debate.
They dismiss the valid concerns of most skiers about conflicts and the real danger of mixing dogs, both on and off-leash, with skiers in already crowded areas. They repeatedly assert that few problems would occur because the vast majority of dog owners are conscientious, in full control of their pets, and willing to abide by rules and regulations set forth by the Forest Service.I hope this is all true, but let’s look at the record. Seven off-leash dog parks were opened here in town, and those of us who participated in meetings about them were assured that one great benefit of the parks would be a reduction in conflicts and better adherence to existing laws about leashes and waste clean up. I vividly remember speaking with a police officer who assured me that these laws would be enforced. Well, you have only to walk (carefully!) through any park or along any trail in Bend, and you’ll see about half of the dogs unleashed despite obvious signage, and plenty of dog piles.
I submit that DogPAC, (Bend) Parks and Rec., and the police haven’t been able to [convince] many owners to adhere to the rules here in town, so why should we think it’ll be any better at the ski areas?
I am not unwilling to share space in the forest, but it’s a two-way street. I already share my front yard with dogs as they pass by. When I can walk out to the mailbox without stepping in what they share with me, then perhaps I’ll have more confidence in DogPAC’s assertions.
– Jim Mahoney, Ben
This article appears in Jan 20-26, 2011.
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As Jim states, just as within the rest of the population, not all dog owners are “Good Citizens” and always follow the rules (leash laws) and pick-up after their dog. DogPAC has made educating the public to the principles of responsible dog guardianship a top priority. While this will remain an on-going challenge, substantial progress has been made in this area mostly due to the addition of the new BPRD off-leash areas. DogPAC is also working with BPRD to find ways to help keep our parks cleaner and have the kind of off-leash areas that best represent the needs of the communities' large number of dog guardians. A factual review of the available data shows that Bend City Police dog related parks contacts decreased from 50% in 2009 to 13% in 2010.
Here is a portion of the recent BPRD Board report that also reinforces the value of the OLA program as far as reducing the number of off leash dog complaints and violations in the parks.
“Officer Tisher made a total of 121 formal contacts for a wide variety of situations. The police department also responded to an additional 255 contacts. Compare this total of 376 contacts in 2010 to the 232 recorded in 2009 and you will find an increase in 127 contacts. Half the contacts in 2009 were dog related. In 2010, that number dropped to 49 indicating that progress has been made in that area. In 2009, there were 127 contacts for dogs at large. In 2010, there were 16 contacts for dogs off-leash by the PRO, and 33 contacts by other officers. Again this year we feel we made good progress on the off leash dog problem by Officer Tisher using more officers to address the issue. There have been fewer complaints about off-leash dogs than in the past.”
This shows that most people will follow the rules if given viable alternatives and opportunities. Many dog opponents often like to cite individual examples to make generalizations (a dog pooped on my yard so all dog owners don’t clean-up after their dogs) rather than take the time and effort to actually do any factual research. If they would be willing to examine data from other National Forests that do have substantial off-leash XC skiing systems they would see that dog skiers and those who wish to ski in areas without dogs can satisfactorily coexist with proper planning.
Jim and other dog adverse skiers should have plenty of opportunities to ski on trails without dogs but dog skiers should also be allowed a reasonable area of quality trails on public land for their preferred recreational activity of skiing with their dogs.