Flyfunston

Meeting with GGNRA and Dog Walker contingent at Fort Funston

Last week I went to Fort Funston and met with two representatives of the GGNRA and three representatives of the dog walker groups. We all discussed possible solutions to the dog poop and dog biting problems at the Fort.

Everyone was very supportive of our concerns and willing to work on a solution. The GGNRA is in the middle of a proposed rulemaking in regard to leash laws within their park system. This is a multi-year long process and they are not going to do anything about leash laws OR professional dog walking until the rule making process is completed. They do however encourage and support cooperation between park partners and are happy to see the Fellow Feathers and the Dog Walkers working together.

We all agreed that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, so our approach will be one of a friendly request rather than attempts at police like regulation.

Our first move will be to visually reinforce the limits of our set-up area so people will know what areas are sensitive. We have permission to place a line of traffic cones with yellow rope along the sand trail. I have already purchased some cones and we have a spool of yellow rope in the clubhouse. I’m working on how to string the rope along the cones without damaging the cones themselves.

The dog walker group is going to help design signs to inform dog walkers of the issues and why we are asking everyone to keep their dogs out of the chips area. We are planning on two kinds of signs: The first is a larger general information sign explaining the situation, and the others will be smaller reminder signs we can place along the cone line.

A longer term project is to move the drinking fountain / dog water station farther away from our set-up area. The GGNRA is working on this for us.

Another option might be to re-route the sand trail a little farther away from the chips area, but this needs to be well thought out first because it might push pedestrians more in the way of our landing approaches and we don’t want that trade off.

The GGNRA had received the dog poop photos I sent them as well as the dog bite reports. Coincidentally, one official pointed out a hang glider that had just landed and how a loose dog was chasing and barking at his heels. I told them this happens all the time. I think they are now convinced our issues are real and will help us make the Fort a cleaner and safer place to fly.