Dogs in the Parks: Speak Up Now!!

From SFGate,

This is a call to action for all dog guardians. Your access to beloved play spaces that you enjoy with your dogs—Bernal Hill, McLaren Park, Lake Merced, and others—is on San Francisco’s docket to be reduced or even eliminated.

The draft environmental impact report that proposes these closures comes before the public Thursday. Now is the time to be heard.

Write Before Oct 17: 80% of SF Dog Play Areas At Risk! Includes Bernal Hill, Buena Vista, Golden Gate Park Southeast and McLaren Park.

Take Action:

Public Hearing on the Natural Areas Program Draft Environmental Impact Review
Thursday, Oct. 6, 1:30 PM
San Francisco City Hall, Room 400


Submit Public Comments
Deadline: Monday, October 17, 5:00 PM
Bill Wycko, Environmental Review Officer, Planning Department,
1650 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103


It’s not enough that the Golden Gate National Recreation Area wants to eliminate most off-leash dog walking at Ft. Funston, Crissy Field, Ocean Beach and other areas in San Francisco. Now dog play areas at Bernal Hill, Buena Vista, Golden Gate Park Southeast and McLaren Park are at risk.

That’s because the SF Recreation and Park Natural Areas Program wants to further expand their habitat restoration program. They plan to essentially eliminate all off-leash at Bernal Hill, Buena Vista and McLaren Parks, and in the southeast part of Golden Gate Park.

Even their current plan will close the Lake Merced dog play area completely, and significantly reduce the Bernal Hill and McLaren Park off-leash areas.

Up to 80% of all legal off-leash areas in San Francisco are at risk.  Please speak out about this latest effort to eliminate off-leash – and other -- recreation in San Francisco.

More information at facebook.com/saveoffleash, sfdog.org, www.milliontrees.wordpress.com, http://sf-planning.org/index.aspx?page=1828

A FEW ADDITIONAL FACTS ABOUT THE NATURAL AREAS PROGRAM

• The NAP claims nearly 1/3 of all the land in San Francisco parks.

• 80% of all legal off-leash space in San Francisco city parks is located either within or adjacent to natural areas. If NAP claims the dogs have any impact on the natural areas, they can demand that the off-leash areas be closed. Nearly all off-leash in city parks is at risk for closure at some point in the future.

• The NAP plans to close many trails and restrict access to large portions of San Francisco city parks.

• The Maintenance Alternative offered in the NAP Environmental Impact Report is the least intrusive, the least destructive, of the alternatives. As explained in the EIR, the Maintenance Alternative will preserve the existing biological resources, including sensitive habitats. It has fewer unmitigated significant impacts and is least damaging to the environment and to recreation in City parks

• The NAP management plan calls for the destruction of thousands of healthy trees, especially eucalyptus, simply because they are non-native. In addition, after they cut down the eucalyptus, the stumps will be poisoned repeatedly with a very toxic herbicide, Garlon IV Ultra.

• NAP users toxic herbicides to kill smaller non-native plants, e.g., oxalyis. These herbicides are sprayed repeatedly in areas of the parks where seniors, children, and dogs walk.

• The NAP has been operating for 15 years with a spectacular lack of success. Its native plant gardens are not sustainable without continual weeding and replanting. Yet at many sites, NAP plans allow for only a few days of maintenance a year.

• The NAP EIR contains a major error. Page 2 identifies the Maximum Restoration Alternative as the “Environmentally Superior Alternative.” If you read pages 525-526 of the EIR, however, it is clear that the Maintenance Alternative is actually the “Environmentally Superior Alternative.” Planning Department staff  have acknowledged that page 2 is in error, yet have refused to halt the public comment process until the error can be corrected and published.