Posted on 01/13/2019 1:42:17 PM PST by 11th_VA
COLUMBIA FALLS, MONT. Some visitors to Glacier National Park in Montana have been ignoring longstanding rules on walking dogs in the park since the government shutdown began.
Nearly all of Glacier's trails are closed to dogs, leashed or not, all year long. Closed roads are considered trails in the winter months and also are closed to dogs. Trails and roads closed to dogs are clearly marked.
But the Hungry Horse News reports that a number of people have been seen walking dogs in the park since the shutdown. One party recently had six dogs, including three not on leashes.
The dog regulations have been on the books for decades to protect both wildlife and the public.
OOOH NOES! PEOPLE WALKING DOGS IN THE PARK!!!
THE END IS NEAR, GOOBERMINT SAVE US!
OH NOES
You are 100% correct.
It usually goes like this... walking down the trail with the dog up ahead. Dog runs into bear and runs back to you, followed by angry bear.
Having read “Call of the Wild”, I’d be more than a little nervous about taking dogs off leash in wolf country. Having read far too many stories of dogs challenging grizzly bears and then leading the bear back to the “safety” of their owner, I’d be careful in bear country too. Glacier has about eight wolf packs and perhaps 300 grizzly bears. Carry a big firearm (or bear spray if that’s all you’re allowed and you choose to follow the law), and keep your dogs on leash if you have any sense at all.
OMG! Another disaster in the making! This shutdown MUST end!!!!
You know the old line about the .357 in griz country...
"Well...on that .357 the key is to file down the front sight. That way, it wont hurt as much when the bear takes the gun away and jams it up your rear end."
More commentary at The HighRoad.
So in other words, now that the gov is shutdown, people are free to use public lands as they see fit.
I had a minpin once that loved chasin’ griz...
Probably places like Missouri and Arkansas in our neck of the woods could do a pretty good job of it but Oklahoma can’t even keep roadside parks and itty bitty historical monuments open. They can’t even keep the roadside historical markers maintained. This state is too poor to pay attention or too wasteful.
I see your point. In our travels we have run across some pretty crappy state parks, Ohio is one example. But in our neck of the woods, ND, SD, WY, MD & MN they are quite good. In ND I’ve found county park infrastructure (rest facilities, camp grounds, etc) far superior to the Roosevelt Park in ND.
Also the staffing is people friendly in state facilities, where national parks they tend to be animal friendly, and some of the staff will not hesitate to tell people that animals were there first and the place belongs to them.
National Parks have completely reversed what T Roosevelt imagined. He wanted to preserve a bit of nature for people. The lefties changed that to preserving nature for animals, to hell with people.
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Risks aside, other than cleanliness, I don't see much reason for banning dogs on trails. Glacier might be an exception if there's a major history of attacks on dogs. But my impression is the bans aren't for the dogs safety, rather the fact that some owners won't clean up after or control the behavior of their dog.
see my last post to the wrong list, this one is to the correct list.
Best post of the decade!!
National parks have been taken over by federal econonuts in the barky years. They are not gone. barky left too many problems behind for Trump to address in one term.
It is easy to get all the toys out and make a mess but much harder to clean up and put them back where they belong.
I have not been to a National Park proper in years but the national recreation area we went to last year was pretty run down and staffed by a gang of hairy armpit women rangers that were downright surly.
The dog will definitely split the bear’s attention. A good thing.
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