Tuesday, October 14, 2008

wildlife


Last week, Julia Grant forwarded me an article that an acquaintence had sent her regarding the effects of dogs on wildlife in trails systems. The study was done on the Boulder Trail system by some gentlemen from Colorado State and Boulder Parks & Recreation and was published in the Natural Areas Journal, volume 28. I appreciated her passing it along.

I later found out that the article was also sent to FCAC members.

I found this article this spring after following Ed Bottum's helpful advice to google dogs and wildlife. If I was able to find it, I assume that someone involved in the Working Group could too. If the information contained was pertinent to the recommendation, then it should have been printed out, shared and discussed at that time.

I was under the impression after the past few meetings that public safety was the biggest issue that the FCAC wanted to solve for with the Working Group. Primarily feces & unruly dogs. We have made good progress on those issues. Responsible dog owners understand and agree that dogs should not harass wildlife, and we are educating around that as well.

This information has been introduced too late (particularly when it was available previously) to affect the decision to be made in November.

If you would like to see a copy of the report, please email me idswissy@yahoo.com



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