GPP33
September 9th, 2004, 12:23 PM
OHV's arn't the only ones who have to deal with this crap.
From the Camara:
Members of the Open Space Board of Trustees spent the evening Wednesday listening to dozens of residents give their input on the Visitor Master Plan, a document that will govern all activities on Boulder's open space and mountain parks.
The terms of the debate didn't change Wednesday night.
One side argues for what the document calls a "precautionary" approach: Mountain bikers, hikers and other users shouldn't be allowed to expand their use on open space if those activities could have any adverse impact on the environment.
The other side of that debate is simple: Open space should be closed only if it can be shown that letting people play on it will substantially hurt wildlife or ecosystems.
A community group convened last spring, that included user groups ranging from equestrians to dog owners and environmentalists, settled on the latter interpretation. It recommended that the plan be changed to remove the precautionary approach.
But open space trustees leaned toward the precautionary approach Wednesday night.
"I'm very interested in the precautionary management approach," board member Linda Jourgenson said.
Many of the speakers who showed up agreed.
Typical was Boulder resident Gary Emerson, who said he was one of the first volunteers who helped get the city's open space program up and running in 1969. The program, he said, had one clear goal: preservation.
"I would like to remind this group that at no time was the intent of preserving these lands to be as a toilet for dogs or a playground for yuppies, which it seems to have become," he said.
But Willy Mein, a member of the community advisory group, said the group's members managed to find a balance between opening the land for recreation and protecting its environmental characteristics.
"I do not think that use and preservation are mutually exclusive," Mein said. "I don't believe in preserving the land for the future, for our kids, to just view from afar."
Buzz Burrell, a trail-runner who also served on the community group, said trustees were wasting time. The group he served on included environmentalists and users who managed to reach an agreement on difficult issues such as access and trail closures, he said.
The trustees, he said, were resisting those recommendations because of their own extreme pro-preservation biases, Burrell said.
"I'm a little surprised that the board didn't just pick up the community recommendations and say, 'Great, let's do it,'" he said. "We did your job for you."
But Lisa Carter, a spokeswoman for the pro-dog group Friends Interested in Dogs and Open Space, said she was happy to hear some of the board members endorse the group's proposal to train and license dog owners who want to let their pets off-leash on open space lands.
Trustees identified several dozen issues in the plan that they still would like to address. Those are expected to be resolved in a meeting later this month or in early October.
The City Council is expected to take up the issue in December.
I like the idea of training dog owners. I can get some one to train me how to pick up my dogs crap. Why don't you just fine the people who don't!
From the Camara:
Members of the Open Space Board of Trustees spent the evening Wednesday listening to dozens of residents give their input on the Visitor Master Plan, a document that will govern all activities on Boulder's open space and mountain parks.
The terms of the debate didn't change Wednesday night.
One side argues for what the document calls a "precautionary" approach: Mountain bikers, hikers and other users shouldn't be allowed to expand their use on open space if those activities could have any adverse impact on the environment.
The other side of that debate is simple: Open space should be closed only if it can be shown that letting people play on it will substantially hurt wildlife or ecosystems.
A community group convened last spring, that included user groups ranging from equestrians to dog owners and environmentalists, settled on the latter interpretation. It recommended that the plan be changed to remove the precautionary approach.
But open space trustees leaned toward the precautionary approach Wednesday night.
"I'm very interested in the precautionary management approach," board member Linda Jourgenson said.
Many of the speakers who showed up agreed.
Typical was Boulder resident Gary Emerson, who said he was one of the first volunteers who helped get the city's open space program up and running in 1969. The program, he said, had one clear goal: preservation.
"I would like to remind this group that at no time was the intent of preserving these lands to be as a toilet for dogs or a playground for yuppies, which it seems to have become," he said.
But Willy Mein, a member of the community advisory group, said the group's members managed to find a balance between opening the land for recreation and protecting its environmental characteristics.
"I do not think that use and preservation are mutually exclusive," Mein said. "I don't believe in preserving the land for the future, for our kids, to just view from afar."
Buzz Burrell, a trail-runner who also served on the community group, said trustees were wasting time. The group he served on included environmentalists and users who managed to reach an agreement on difficult issues such as access and trail closures, he said.
The trustees, he said, were resisting those recommendations because of their own extreme pro-preservation biases, Burrell said.
"I'm a little surprised that the board didn't just pick up the community recommendations and say, 'Great, let's do it,'" he said. "We did your job for you."
But Lisa Carter, a spokeswoman for the pro-dog group Friends Interested in Dogs and Open Space, said she was happy to hear some of the board members endorse the group's proposal to train and license dog owners who want to let their pets off-leash on open space lands.
Trustees identified several dozen issues in the plan that they still would like to address. Those are expected to be resolved in a meeting later this month or in early October.
The City Council is expected to take up the issue in December.
I like the idea of training dog owners. I can get some one to train me how to pick up my dogs crap. Why don't you just fine the people who don't!