Editor --

We are writing to clear up a misunderstanding about off-leash dogs in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The GGNRA Advisory Commission made several recommendations to Superintendent Brian O'Neill at our January 23 meeting. We asked him to meet with dog owners and with other interested parties. He has. We asked him to meet with other public land managers. A summit is getting underway. Our major request was that he try to find a way for our park to get an exception to the national regulation that all dogs be on-leash in national parks. He has done this by starting the process, awkwardly named "Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking," so that managers of this national park can attempt to craft a different legal dog management policy.

We did tell the audience a number of times at the January meeting that the Commission's 1978 policy recommendation permitting off-leash dogs in some places had been declared invalid and was no longer in force. The room was too noisy for this point to be heard. Instead, there is community perception that we will revisit dog issues at our May meeting; we will not because the rulemaking process has begun. New park signs state the standard national park dog leash requirement, which will be in place until -- and if -- the new rulemaking is successfully completed.

We would like to have a win/win situation for all park users. We hope that many people with various opinions will participate in the rulemaking process.

Richard Bartke, Chair
Amy Meyer, Vice-Chair
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Advisory Commission