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Photo Gallery The entrance to Mt. Misery's wide expanse of trails. (Staff photo by Cheryl Lecesse)

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New dog regs at Mt. Misery
By Cheryl Lecesse/ Staff Writer
Thursday, March 24, 2005

Residents of Lincoln and surrounding towns who use Mt. Misery filled the Donaldson Auditorium last Wednesday to voice their concerns about new regulations concerning dogs on the conservation property.
     As of April 4, all dogs at Mt. Misery will be required to be on a leash, and dog-walkers will be required to abide by a "carry in, carry out" policy with regard to dog feces.
     Dogs will also be required to stay on marked trails, and will not be allowed to swim in Mt. Misery ponds or in the adjacent Sudbury River.
     "This is a decision that has been in the process of being made for well over five years now," said commission Chairman Mary Lincoln.
      "You take your dog in the woods to so he can run," said Harriet Todd of Old Concord Road, whose property abuts the conservation land and who owns a 2-year-old dog. "She'd pull my arm off if I walk her on a leash."
     After the meeting, commissioners said they will continue to evaluate the situation at Mt. Misery and will keep users' comments in mind.
     Mt. Misery is more than 200 acres of woods, trails and agricultural fields bounded by Route 117, Route 126 and the Sudbury River in Lincoln. It was protected through federal funding, and is open to the public.
     Commissioners said the new regulations will be put into effect to protect the environment from being further destroyed by use of the land. The regulations are also a result of complaints about dogs, including incidents involving them attacking other animals.
     "We get complaints on a regular basis," said Conservation Director Tom Gumbart. "There's a whole group of users that don't use it because it's simply become a dog walker park."
     "It's the density of the use that's the question," said commissioner Jim Henderson.
     But many in attendance at the meeting, most of whom walk their dogs on the land, say its only a few of the larger group that uses Mt. Misery who behave in a way that generates complaints.
     "I don't see hordes of dogs, or dogs attacking people," said Linda May of Sandy Pond Road, who said she regularly walks at Mt. Misery.
     May suggested the commission revise the regulations, and only require dogs to be leashed on weekends, when more people use Mt. Misery. She also suggested the commission require dogs to be leashed only in the agricultural fields portion of Mt. Misery.
     "This town has no leash law," May also said asking how the commission can require dogs to be leashed.
     "But the town does have requirements for your dog to be on voice control," said Gumbart.
     "There's been a constant observation of the degradation of the land," said commissioner Peter Von Mertens after the meeting. "We didn't see any alternative to it."
     "I think it's really overkill to make the entire Mt. Misery area subject to a leash law," Marie Keutmann of Birchwood Lane.
     Neil Feinberg of Concord Road asked how the new regulations would be enforced. Lincoln said the commission has a full-time land manager and a part-time ranger who will be enforcing the regulations. Gumbart said he would be out on the property more as well.
     "We'll give as much attention as we can," he said.
      "It's done so much for my mental health," said Peggy Willmann of Sandy Pond Road, of walking her puppy at Mt. Misery, saying she has met so many great people there. "When I retired I thought I'd never meet a new friend."
     "I think the situation at Mt. Misery is just in a state of imbalance now," said Heidi Nichols of Old Concord Road, whose home abuts one of the conservation land's agricultural fields.
     Nichols said she has a clear view of the land from her kitchen window.
     "It is used every single hour of the day," she said, saying she knows not every dog walker has his or her dog under control while on the property.
     Lexington resident Nancy Bryant said she has regularly walked with her dog, unleashed, at Mt. Misery for 21 years. Bryant had prepared a statement and read her comments at the meeting.
     "To insist that dogs are degrading the environment, widening trails, disturbing mammals and amphibians, is an opinion, backed by no scientific data of either degradation or of dogs as the source," Bryant said.
     Gumbart said there is no vegetation along the edge of the pond on the property, and said dogs impact egg masses of salamanders and frogs. He also said fecal matter from the dogs affects the ground.
     "I don't understand that the dogs are 100 percent responsible for the damage that's been done down there," said Cheryl Eisner of Wayland, saying beavers have also caused considerable environmental damage on the land.
     Diana Abrashkin of South Great Road, who served two years as a trail ambassador at Mt. Misery, said, even though she handed out "mutt mitts" for people to pick up after their dogs, there is still a problem with people leaving dog feces on the trails.
     "People have actually tied these things to trees because they don't want to carry it around with them," Abrashkin said.
     Ari Kurtz of Old Concord Road, who leases 12 acres of the agricultural field to farm, said he frequently finds plastic bags of dog feces.
     "I'm really torn on this issue," he said, saying his dogs stay unleashed on the fields to keep deer and woodchucks away from the farm, and he suggested the commission revisit the issue.
     Brita Jessen of Lexington suggested dog walkers give their dogs a good citizen test, a 10-step test of the American Kennel Club used to determine how well-trained a dog is.
     "All of us have leashes on us," she added.
     Sara Mattes of Conant Road, also a selectman, said there have been a number of public safety issues at Mt. Misery that back up the commission's reasoning behind establishing the regulations. Mattes said for example, a dog attacked a horse on the land.
     "We're also concerned about preserving the heritage of the land," she said, saying horseback riding and carriage use has strong roots there, and the town has an obligation to serve a larger public. "We do not have an obligation to dogs."
     Mattes also said there has been some discussion about leash laws in town.
     "A leash law is something that gives you legal leverage," she said.
     Marana Kern of Wayland said she would not mind paying a user's fee to walk her dog at Mt. Misery without using a leash.
     It is such a special place with lovely people and lovely dogs," Kern said. "I would really ask for a compromise."
     Lincoln said the commission held a public hearing in 2001 on dogs at Mt. Misery, after which the commission posted dog etiquette brochures at the trail entrance.
     "Since then the usage has increased," she said. "The incidents have increased."
     After the meeting, Von Mertens said the issue has also been raised at a number of neighborhood meetings.
     Lincoln added, "We want people to continue to use Mt. Misery and to enjoy the area with their dogs. We just want the dogs to be on leashes."
     Gumbart said the commission has the authority to issue regulations as needed.
     "There's actually no requirement for public hearings," he said.
     After the meeting, commissioners also said they did not feel it would be fair to hold a hearing before voting on the regulations because they saw the decision as inevitable.
     "I think this is a tradeoff we're making and it's not easy," said commissioner David Katsuki.
     

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