The Honorable Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington DC 20240

Dear Ms Norton,

I am writing to request your immediate help to preserve off-leash dog walking
in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), a unit of the National
Park Service (NPS) in the Bay Area.

Off-leash dog walking was recognized as a legitimate form of recreation on
GGNRA lands when the parks were transferred from local to federal
jurisdiction in the mid-1970s. Today, tens of thousands of people enjoy this
form in recreation in these parks.

After extensive public review, several areas were designated as official
off-leash recreational parks in a 1979 Pet Policy. Your office has already
received over 17,000 petitions protesting closures for several of these areas
in 1996 and 1999. We ask your support for a Section 7 rule as provided by 36
CFR 1.2(c) which will formalize the 1979 Pet Policy and restore access to the
areas closed in San Francisco and Marin counties.

I deeply appreciate your immediate attention to this matter.

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