February 28, 2002

Trails Mismanagement by the EBRPD

The EBRPD trail access regulations discriminate against families with small children, senior citizens, and those with disabilities.

Piles of cow manure and numerous dog feces litter many trails, and reckless mountain bikers and huge numbers of off-leash dogs dominate District trails.

The feces, uncontrolled dogs, and speeding mountain bikers make the trails unsafe for many families to visit.

Due to intense pressure from off-leash dog proponents, the District now permits 3 off-leash dogs per park user on nearly all trails (6 off-leash dogs are allowed with an inexpensive permit).

District staff completely ignored the unanimous 13-0 vote on 7/24/00 of the Park Advisory Committee, by which they recommended two dogs per person (with no permit) and dogs being walked under a permit always being on leash (with an exception for certain areas specified by the district as off-leash for permit holders).

The EBRPD General Manager delegated the implementation of the dog policy to a committee "... formed of representatives of the Professional Dog Walking Community and District staff to develop the policy conceptually approved by the Board." (1) This committee met behind closed doors and was able to greatly weaken the policy that had been discussed and then voted on in public by the Board, without the need for any further vote.

(1) Reference page 11 the 26 page EBRPD document "Guidelines for Dog Permit Pilot Program", approved 3/28/01. May be obtained from Sgt. Dale Davidson of the Public Safety Department at 510 881-1833.

The District's dog regulations are completely out-of-sync with other open space parks in California, which almost always require dogs to be on leash, and very rarely in numbers ranging from 4-6.

In 2000 the District documented 18 serious dog attacks. These included an attack on the current President of the EBRPD Board of Directors by an off-leash dog in Redwood Regional Park.

In 2000 the District police documented 7 bike accidents that required helicopter airlifts for victims, and 22 accidents in which ambulances transported the injured parties.

The District refuses to make low-impact types of park visitation like walking, bird-watching, and nature study its highest recreational priority.

Adding insult to injury, the EBRPD has paid excessive salaries to the District management who have designed and implemented its unsafe and discriminatory policies. In 2000, the EBRPD paid at least 13 high officials more than $100,000. The District refuses to provide compensation details for other key employees. The General Manager topped the 2000 pay list at $167,864.67. District employees received a 6.3% salary increase in 2001.

Steve Luzmoor, Oakland