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Lindsay Kefauver
Comments at 1/23/01 GGNRA Advisory Commission Meeting
Good evening Commissioners - My name is Lindsay Kefauver
Quoting from a 1978 news release by the National Park Service.
". Developing a pet policy for the GGNRA is not easy, especially since the ordinary guidelines outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations do not really apply in an urban area. People and their animals have been visiting the park for too long to apply an all-inclusive arbitrary policy end "
The outcome of this hearing was the 1979 Pet Policy which was in response to the Park Service's recognition of special needs in our urban setting.
If the legality of the Pet Policy has troubled the committee during the past 22 years why haven't you taken steps to incorporate it as a special rule, just as hang-gliding and off-trail bicycling are permitted by special rules?
Why the big rush now to ban a policy that has worked? Why do you want to make off-leash dog walking a criminal activity? Why aren't you advocating for the citizens of the Bay area instead?
This is a very emotional subject for me. I have been walking at the Fort and Crissy Field for 23 years. I've met people whom I probably wouldn't meet except that we share a desire to give our pets and ourselves exercise in a beautiful open space. If you rescind the off leash policy, I won't see this community of friends again, as we won't choose to walk where our dogs must be tethered to us. Do you really want to be responsible for eliminating this very special social dynamic?
The GGNRA was to be the National Park Services' great experiment to create an urban park. If they cannot succeed in accommodating the traditional forms of recreation of a large metropolis, then they have failed.
Thank you.