Thank you for all your time & effort on the DMP Master Plan. I didn't see any specifics regarding Denver Mountain Parks having areas where it's okay to have your dog off leash, so I would like to respectfully request that the subject be considered.
Reply from Susan Baird, Natural Resource Planner:
Thanks for your letter. We know that having a place for dogs to play off-leash is important to so many people and we did discuss it in our planning. What we found is that the Denver Mountain Parks, as a much smaller system than Jefferson County Open Space, National Forests, or other county systems, actually suffers from overuse and conflicts in many places. And, unlike other open space systems, we are not planning future acquisitions at this time.
And our goal for the more remote parks and "backcountry" is to protect those natural resources. We looked at California research that measured impacts to natural open space systems by dogs and hikers going into remoter areas and felt it was important to keep dogs on leash and to protect those limited resources. Consequently, we did not think that there was a space in the current system for a specialized area. We do want to see dog-owners (and dogs!) served and know that Jefferson County Open Space acquired and designated an area just for dogs-off-leash (Elk Meadows area) and that the surrounding National Forests accommodate dogs off leash. Thanks for your understanding (and we hope, your dog's, too).
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