too wet

it's been too wet out, so we have been practicing our on leash walking through the neighborhood the last couple of days.

here is a note from swimba with some good info on how to tell if trails are too muddy and some alternative ideas.

It is mud season again in the foothills. Our trails are very vulnerable till Spring. SWIMBA and Boise Trail DOG invite you to the following website for some information on foothills soil types, good trail choices for damp days, and other muddy topics: http://swimba.net/education/muddy-trails

location for the december meeting has been announced- it will be the library again, and public comment is being taken through november 19. you can send your comments to julia grant at jgrant@cityofboise.org

here's hoping it dries up a bit! i need to get some leaves raked too!

tuesday nov 11

it was a good morning to be out. i was a bit out of it, stressed, etc and it always helps to get exercise & be in nature.

i want to apologize to the woman with the 2 shepherds & the papillon who said "sorry" when the pap come up to us while i had the dogs on leash. i just dropped halle's leash & kept walking with echo & it was fine, but i didn't acknowledge that she spoke to me & that was rude.

have noticed a decent number of cars in the grove parking lot the last few morning...... some head to the pond, some through the grove.

this gal had her well behaved totally under voice control dog off leash in the on leash area. she was unaware that there are still decisions to be made, and that the fine for being caught without a leash (or off leash) could be so expensive.

that's it for today- 6 with, 3 with out.

telling on myself

when i read the comments posted on the ridge to rivers site about off leash dog policy there was one including "i received an email from Marianne asking for support for their push towards having dogs off leash wherever possible and wanted to do just the opposite and state my opposition to it."

of course my first (very human) reaction was "who is this and how did they get on the mailing list? purge the list!" but then i realized that a) this person misunderstands our position- never have we said we want a free for all or that we think that all dogs should be off leash everywhere and b) i started this blog because i think it's important to have public discourse and that includes listening to (and finding solutions with) people who have a different point of view.

my personal opinion (which will no doubt anger some dog owners) is that, just like we have pedestrian only trails for people who don't want to interact with mountain bikes, we should have dog on leash or maybe even no dog trails for people who don't want to interact with dogs. everyone deserves the opportunity to have a pleasant trail experience.

but i do mean everyone- including dog owners and their off leash dogs- and there should be easily accessible trails available.

anyway- beautiful, moody fall morning. my favorite patch of sagebrush- and it smelled wonderful this morning-

a runner stopped to admire the view below with me, saying he was sorry he didn't have his camera with him too. the photo doesn't do justice to how beautiful the golden sunrise was coming up over the valley with the snow visible on the owyhees.

not a very good shot, but there are a black & yellow lab in this photo (below) presumably from the houses above the water tower road. i wanted the officers there to take the dogs to the ihs without passing go. this sort of thing (and it happens regularly- susan martson mentioned these same dogs to me last week) really really gets my irish up.

i sent julia a note & she said they were looking into some ideas for dealing with this problem.

7 with, 4 without, everyone following the rules & pleasant.

lastly, my favorite rhodesian ridgeback decker-
here's to another week!

notes from last week

no trail posts til monday unless tracy chimes in.

quick update on the process. fcac will hold their december meeting at 5:30 p.m. again so that interested citizens can attend. location to be determined. i will send an email when we know.

glad to see the responsiveness on the part of the city.

from what i've been able to tell, most comments (both emailed prior to, and made the evening of the hearing) so far are in favor of taking a year to continue with education and enforcement.

it would be helpful to know what complaints outside of the formal process have been taken by r2r staff by user group, day of the week, time of day, etc. i suspect that there are people who are in favor of stricter leash laws who are using that avenue to comment rather than going through the same process that the rest of us are going through. it would be helpful to understand where the issues are in order to address them.

wednesday evening, there were at least 2 people who testified for much stricter rules- one working group member who was in favor of the original proposal and the woman who runs children's education at the Learning Center, who says they have regular problems with unruly off leash dogs scaring children. wonder if they are out at the same time on the same days if some enforcement might not help that problem.

david gordon of ridge to rivers stood by their proposal.

the need for lower, flat off leash trails for people with limited mobility was brought up.

lots more, i'm sure- since i wasn't present i am relaying what was reported to me.

i have a request in to the mayor's office to help us understand how the process works after the fcac decides what policy to recommend.

plan to attend the meeting wednesday, december 3 at 5:30 pm.

thanks for all you do!

friday the 7

can someone refresh my memory- wasn't most of this area behind a do not enter sign several years ago? i was trying to remember......
anyway- another beautiful morning. nice sunrise, still enjoying the fall colors.

7 with, 5 without, all obeying rules, no altercations witnessed.

happy friday! have a great weekend!

11.6.08

nice to be home. once again missed sunrise- of course going to bed at 1:30 makes it hard to get up early.

it was a beautiful warm morning. the dogs had a blast like they always do after not being able to be off leash on the trail for a few days. i find myself really greatful and appreciating every morning we can do this.

talked to a few groups with well behaved off leash dogs to let them know what's going on. of course, this won't be a majority rules sort of thing. but every little bit helps.

looked around at all of the cheat grass and hemlock and wonder if there are plans to remove the noxious weeds and restore native vegetation along the lower trails.

9 with 6 without. all leashed where they should and well behaved. we are getting very good at walking past on leash on the trail- it is so nice to see the work pay off.

thinking lots of things, many of which wouldn't be productive to share here so i won't. i'm tired and need to give things some thought.

i did send a note to the mayor's office to find out what the process is after the fcac makes a recommendation to mayor and council. not sure about timing, when the public hearing will be, etc.,etc..... when i find out, will let you know.

tomorrow's friday- yay!

meeting

thanks to everyone who attended, spoke and who sent comments. sounds like there was a good turnout, and like some good points were raised.

also sounds like the fcac will decide on their recommendation on wednesday december 3 at their 7:30 a.m. meeting, so mark your calendars now- it would be good to have a nice crowd there. it will be interesting to see how the committee comes to a decision and how much discussion there is around the public input received at tonight's meeting.

and now to bed for me- more info to come as we get it.