Responsible Dog Owners in Concord, MA
This will help us compile some very useful information regarding trail use and conditions. We ask that you open it up on your phone, then fill out a two minute report after each walk in conservation areas. And please feel free to contact us with any questions. Thank you!
Concord Unleashed was formed in response to the NRC’s proposal to close Punkatasset, Mattison and other conservation lands to off-leash dog use. We believe that these areas can be kept as places for all users including dogs and owners to enjoy and still be maintained with little or no ill effects to the wildlife, flora and fauna. Through a combination of education and better facilities, there can be a balanced and fair approach, resolving the concerns of the NRC without taking away this wonderful privilege. Over 1100 Concord residents agree and have signed our petition in support.
Closing these town conservation areas will create much greater stress on the few remaining places where dogs can go off leash. The problem will not only be shifted, but it will be intensified and the NIMBY syndrome is likely to spread. The NRC states that there is still 70% of the town conservation land available, but once you subtract the agricultural use, inaccessible properties, and Estabrook Woods, it is actually closer to only 30%.
Many in Concord cherish and look forward to the unique experience provided by walking in the woods with our beloved pets. The daily exercise is good for both owner and dog, offering therapeutic value as well. It is a large part of what makes our town so unique. The problems are far from insurmountable, and can be easily solved.
There are already leash restrictions on Mattison Field during the Bobolink nesting period, which the vast majority respect and observe. There are bags at the entrances, but no trash receptacles. However, there is an offer to endow a fund to service these, so this is no longer an issue.
And some simple etiquette guidelines could solve the issues that sometimes arise when encountering another person, a leashed dog or a horse. Leashing up when in doubt, would keep any problems from potentially escalating. If the dog community as a group were to work at educating and reminding their fellow owners, many of these problems could be eliminated. There is no reason to punish the hundreds of considerate and responsible owners for the actions of a few.
We are good neighbors, who care about the environment and want to maintain these positive relations. We also want to continue enjoying the woods as generations have before us. And we are more than willing to make a serious effort to keep these privileges. Unfortunately, the NRC has decided against giving us this chance to share in this common responsibility. Having been shut out by them, we are now forced to work on our own to maintain this much beloved form of adult recreation. We will continue to fight and work at keeping the remaining areas we have left and as always, practice and promote good pet etiquette. Thank you for your support and please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Any hope of maintaining off-leash privileges must involve efforts by all dog owners to practice good neighborly relations and make sure our dogs (and us) behave well and do not leave behind poop or bags. Please see the “Pet-etiquette” guidelines here.
A very thoughtful letter regarding the current controversial issue surrounding the access and control of access to Estabrook Woods by Michael Dettelbach:
To the Editor:
Contrary to assertions in the Nov. 29, 2018 edition of the Journal: judging from the October Town Meeting vote on Article 11, many Concord citizens do support the Town’s effort to clarify the status of the Estabrook Road trail. This was also the highest-priority recommendation of the Town’s Estabrook Woods Access Study Committee, which the Town appointed in April 2016. When the Committee submitted its final recommendations to the Select Board in November 2016, it asked the Board urgently to “work with town counsel and direct abutters on Estabrook Road to resolve legal uncertainties regarding the dirt road trail at the end of the paved public road in order to secure permanent public access at this location.”
This is because, during the Committee’s deliberations, the abutting landowners threatened to shut off public access to the Estabrook trail entirely, unless the Town made permanent the temporary parking restrictions along Estabrook Road imposed in spring 2016, which cut capacity from 25 cars to 11. As the Committee reported, “the uncertainty over the legal rights of direct abutters to close the access and their intent to close it if additional spaces are added was a factor” in the majority recommendation (with significant minority dissent) to maintain the parking restrictions, even if it proved impossible to expand parking at Punkatasset–the Committee’s other priority recommendation.
So I thank the Select Board for following the recommendation of the Estabrook Woods Access Study Committee and seeking clarity on the legal status of the Estabrook trail. By asserting a right to close off a trail–the colonial road to Carlisle–that has been in continuous public use for generations, in an effort to reduce public access to land preserved by a complex public-private partnership, the landowners left the Town little choice.
The landowners didn’t have to go there and threaten to block the trail. The Estabrook Committee had succeeded in moving a contentious and longstanding matter to a place of public consciousness and collaboration, working together to manage the challenges of keeping Estabrook clean and congenial. That included the possibility of lifting some portion of the temporary parking ban at Estabrook Road and restoring some of the lost access, should expanding parking at the Punkatasset entrance prove impossible. And indeed, over the course of the Committee’s 2016 deliberations, public awareness and treatment of the trail improved noticeably. But rather than continue to work with the Town and the public, the landowners threatened to block the trail altogether. It may indeed turn out that they are within their rights to do so. But we do have to find out, now.
Or, might the landowners simply affirm that there is a permanent right of public access along the old Estabrook Road, so we can forego the courts and return to managing this public good, together?
Michael Dettelbach
Assabet Avenue
The Concord Dog Park Feasibility Study Group has reached a conclusion and will be presenting their findings Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7pm in the Concord Town House. Please come attend to hear the results of our in depth look into whether Concord needs a dog park, where one might be, and what attributes we feel are most important.
This is the conclusion of a one year study by seven Concord residents who volunteered to collect information and to research this issue. We hope to see you there and look forward to answering questions, as well as receive any input you may have for Concord’s future with regards to this matter.
Best,
Anne Umphrey (Chair)
Don Shorbrys (Clerk)
Susanne Jarnryd
Deb Richardson
Bob Schulman
Kate Stout
Jeff Young
Concord Dog Park Feasibility Committee Final Report: DPFSCreport11.13
Please be aware that there will hunting on CLCT’s Seton and Wright Woods for three months from October 1 to December 31. They are still available for walks mid day from 9-3 and on weekends.
See photo:
Last August (2017), it was looking like we were working together and actually going to achieve a mutually satisfying result. The NRC appeared to hear us and was willing to give us a chance. It seemed to be doing what most sensible town bodies do, listening to and working with it’s constituents.
Instead, we now have rangers and new signs in the woods telling us all what to do. Or more likely, what not to do. And threats of fines. And gates. And poison. And hundreds of disenfranchised voters/dog owners.
How did this happen? Why did the NRC change course? Why was there this big rush to implement these restrictions? We even had a Town Meeting vote on the matter, with the vast majority voting in favor of a two year moratorium. So why did the NRC continue plodding along and push these clearly unwelcome regulations down our throats? And with absolutely no clear evidence to support their case?
Unfortunately, this question was never brought up by the Select Board when meeting the NRC Chair and Director last month. I can not help but wonder how this could go without notice. What was the harm in waiting another two years to give the residents a chance to prove themselves? The amount of time, energy and effort myself and many others have invested in this cause, surely deserves more. This town deserves more. Democracy, it’s birthplace, and it’s people deserve more.
Video from CCTV of Concord, Massachusetts Select Board Chairman Thomas McKean addressing the issue of two Estabrook Woods abutters who have threatened to place poison in the woods to deter off-leash dog walkers:
“Thank you for posting the Pippin Tree Land Trust Forest Legacy Conservation information on your website. It is verification to everyone that this land is indeed private and as such a private property owner may allow dogs, stipulate dogs are to be on a leash, or not allow dogs at all. The easement restricts public use to the main trail only which is the trail that crosses the property directly from Estabrook Trail to Punkatasset Pond. It is not carte blanche permission to utilize the entire 73 acre forest it preserves. Logging is scheduled for sometime in 2018 and poison bate traps are set at various times. Please attend to your animals. Trails will be closed during logging due to the danger of falling trees and heavy equipment.”
To answer some email questions: If and when there are bait traps set, the site and the trail head will be so marked.
We had difficulties with opossums carrying EPM to our breeding farm which borders our forestry land some years back. Therefore we push back the bait boundaries into the woods for preventative measures. Dog owners should be aware that EVERY farm deals with rodent and pest control. It is always wise to be alert with your animals on the surrounding land. Our dogs were no exception.
Many thanks to the hundreds of Concordians who came out to vote at town meeting last night. The passage of Article 44 is a positive first step in having the NRC to use science and real data in their decisions concerning dog walking off-leash in the woods. We hope that there will be a more careful and thoughtful look at the overall impact of these decisions. This two year moratorium should be very helpful and allow for the concerns of all users to be considered. Thank you again for showing you care and for taking the time to participate in one of the oldest forms of democracy!
A very apropos blog in Scientific American: The March for Evidence
Article 44 is a non binding request asking the NRC to refrain from imposing any off-leash restrictions for a two year period. The passage of Article 44 at town meeting is critical for maintaining off-leash dog privileges. It sends a very clear message that our local government’s actions need to be based on real data and applicable science, otherwise, we do not accept them. This two year period will allow for us (and NRC) to collect real data pertinent to this decision. The spirit and intent of the Article is to open a dialogue with the town, in the hopes of finding a more acceptable scientific and fact based response.