Dog policy at refuge
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Beginning July 1, dogs will no longer be allowed at three area refuges administered by the Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
“We are implementing this new policy in order to achieve objectives outlined in our Comprehensive Conservation Plans, which call for the elimination of dog walking at Great Meadows and Oxbow National Wildlife Refuges,” said Elizabeth Herland, refuge manager of the Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex. “As an organization dedicated to wildlife conservation, it is hard to manage a refuge system that will be all things to all people.”
Six public uses were identified by the Refuge Improvement Act as the priorities for receiving enhanced consideration on refuges. Dog walking is not one of the six priority public uses, nor are dogs (except hunting, seeing or hearing dogs) necessary to support the safe, practical and effective conduct of the priority public use programs on the refuge.
Implementation of the dog policy will primarily affect Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) which borders eight towns – Billerica, Bedford, Carlisle, Concord, Framingham, Lincoln, Sudbury and Wayland, and the Oxbow NWR located in the towns of Ayer, Harvard, Lancaster, and Shirley. The Assabet River NWR located in the towns of Hudson, Maynard, Stow and Sudbury recently opened to public access this year. Its no dog policy will remain in effect.
Several reasons prompted the elimination of this activity on area refuges:
Wildlife can’t distinguish between leashed and unleashed dogs. Often in the presence of a dog, species will abandon their nests or young, leaving them vulnerable to predators, or to die from starvation or exposure.
Dogs can intimidate other refuge visitors, and deprive them of the peace that the refuge provides.
Dogs, even when leashed, can conflict with the ability to provide wildlife dependent recreational opportunities for visitors, such as school groups engaged in environmental education and people observing wildlife or taking nature photographs.
Many dog owners have not complied with past policies that require dogs to be leashed and under the owner’s control.
Dog waste left on trails or in bushes impacts water quality and are an unsightly nuisance. | |
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