Where’s the Prize?

 

The GGNRA Big Year contest is receiving considerable and unwarranted publicity as of late. This article explores the mistruths propagated by the events organizers.

It is ubiquitous. It has been all over the Bay Area news. You heard about it on NPR. You've seen the billboards. You've been handed the fliers. Yes, perhaps every conceivable way an event can be promoted has been exploited by the GGNRA Big Year contest organizers. But what is really behind this mass media propaganda blitz?

 

First, the entire premise of the Big Year is patently false. The contest portends as its stated objective the complete recovery of the 33 endangered species that at one time or another called the GGNRA home. In reality, most of these 33 species have been extirpated and will never be found in the GGNRA, or on the planet for that matter, again. Others, like the humpback whale, are transients at best, and in fact have never called the GGNRA their home base. But details like this don't concern the Big Year event organizers. The propaganda they are spewing is having its desired effect. The extremists behind the contest really only care about one thing: keeping people permanently out of the GGNRA. This is really what the Big Year is all about -- nothing more; nothing less.

 

Certainly, it was the natural course of man’s evolution and migration that brought him to this area of expansive natural resources and breathtaking beauty in the first place. This was, simply put, a natural and unavoidable confluence. And certainly, there is no doubt that man’s presence is a contributory factor in the displacement of some species from their homes. But the Big Year organizers have set forth an aggressive and strident agenda to reverse the effects of man’s footprints on this transformed wilderness. Reverting huge areas of open recreational space surrounding a bustling urban metropolis back to its original state, i.e.., desolate wilderness, is not an easy task.  Recognizing this, the Big Year event organizers have embarked on a campaign of mass media propaganda in their attempt at fete accompli.

 

To further expose the Big Year for the sham that it has proven to be, one need look no further than the advertised prize for winning the contest. After all, every contest must have a winner. And the winner must receive some sort of prize, mustn't they? Well, the Big Year event organizers have been extolling the existence of such a prize since the event’s inception -- no doubt in a feeble attempt to somehow legitimize the contest. But as one unpeels the onion of the Big Year, one quickly comes to the realization that the promoted prize really doesn't exist. Yes, it appears as though the prize is as enigmatic as the 33 endangered species that supposedly inhabit the GGNRA. Perhaps we need a contest to try and find the prize?

 

Yes, the Big Year appears to be nothing more than a “Big Lie”. But as long as the public continues to buy anything sold under the label of political correctness, as long as the "Save the Environment" mantra is prominently displayed, then anecdote will continue to trump science and more “Big Lies” will be told. Perhaps it’s about time the public begins to ask, "Where's the prize?"  

Posted at SF Weekly.com on: February 7, 2008 10:02 AM

The following article was originally published on 12/30/2007 in the S.F.  Independent Media (IndyBay). It was removed the following day by IndyBay after persistent threats from Mr. Plater.

 

Brent Plater: A Case Study in the Art of Shameless Self Promotion

 

One merely has to look at his self-authored, self-supported web site, i.e., http://www.brentplater.com, and one quickly discovers what Brent Plater is really all about. Is it the environment? No. Is it endangered species? Hardly. The recurring theme of that web site, and pretty much everything Brent Plater does, for that matter, is just one thing: Brent Plater. Nothing else. Everything else is simply an illusion; a diversionary tactic; magician’s slight of hand and misdirection. Just look at the commemorative painting Plater commissioned for his “Big Year” project. It is basically a picture of himself. Not wildlife. Not the San Francisco Garter Snake. Not the Red Legged Frog. Not the Western Snowy Plover. This is all about Brent Plater. Nothing else.

 

So what is this ubiquitous, narcissistic, self-styled environmentalist really up to? Clearly he is grooming himself for a run at Washington D.C.  Power has always been his goal. Political office or perhaps a position as a highly paid lobbyist would be the delivery system to get him there. Consider his educational background. A stint at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall Law School tells us all we need to know about Plater’s intentions. The Kennedy School of Government: because where else can one study with the best the art forms of spin, deceit, political corruption, power grabbing and elitism – prerequisites for a gig in the legislative branch. Boalt Hall: because pretty much everyone in D.C. is either a lawyer and/or has a rich, influential daddy.  A stint as a highly visible attorney with Center for Biological Diversity where “the end justifies the means” and being in San Francisco allows him to cherry-pick liberal judges who are quite willing to accept his boiler-plate pleadings. Yes, Brent has always known what he has wanted. I will cede him that.  (I should note when CBD encounters a citizen or entity with some backbone and substantial financial resources, and a judge willing to scrutinize the facts thoroughly, the results are not so favorable.  See appellate decision Chilton vs. CBD at: http://www.apltwo.ct.state.az.us/Decisions/cv20050115opn.pdf).

 

The next step for Brent is to line his path to Washington with the bread crumbs of supporting constituency groups. Enter the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, the various Native Plant Societies, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and an array of single purpose Environmental Advocacy Groups. All with undeserved and overstated political clout. All marching to a common theme: “Man and his companions are bad. They are destroying nature.  Mother Earth would be much better off if people were eradicated.”  The savvy Plater has long seen these groups to be the very deep-pocketed, highly ideologic, pervasive media darlings that he would need to seed his assent to our nation’s capitol. Picking his battles carefully (e.g., keeping dogs out of all San Francisco parks and beaches) and doing most of the heavy lifting, Plater has become the ideal general for these groups’ eco-war on the Bay Area populace.  A war not founded on science and fact but rather on emotion and political correctness. Plater even created and anonymously authored an extensive web site (i.e., http://sfdogblog.blogspot.com) where he slanders and defames true dog advocacy groups and individuals while cowardly masquerading as a dog advocate. As is the usual case with Plater controlled web content, opposing comments and opinion are not allowed.

 

Consider the case of the Western Snowy Plover (WSP). Plater and his legion have joined forces with the GGNRA in their efforts to close down San Francisco’s Ocean Beach in order to protect the plover. The problem for them is that Ocean Beach is not critical habitat for the WSP, and therefore, according to U. S. Fish and Wildlife, inconsequential to the recovery of the species. What’s even more absurd is the continued insistence by the likes of Plater, the CBD and the DOI that the Plover even be included on the Endangered Species List, albeit in a threatened status. Not only is the plover prolific all over the U.S., Mexico and Canada, but it has an established colony of tens of thousands at the Salt Lakes of Utah. Extreme environmentalists, including the aforementioned organizations Plater is placating, contend that although the plovers at the Salt Lakes are genetically identical to the WSPs found on the West Coast, they must be a different subspecies since they have chosen to roost elsewhere. They contend that behavior, not genetics, is the determining factor in subspecies designation. This logic would be analogous to Plater contending that his sister must be of a different species than him since she has chosen to live in New York rather than San Francisco. This is not a foundation based upon fact or science but rather one built upon political correctness and radical ideologies.     

 

Those who choose to jump into bed with Plater must be made cognizant of his treachery. Consider the GGNRA. One minute, under the umbrella of the Center for Biological Diversity, Plater is suing the GGNRA for its lack of protections for threatened and/or endangered species. What a vile organization this GGNRA must be as it contributes to the extinction of these wonderful national treasures. But what have we now? Why Plater and the GGNRA have become the best of friends. Recently one would find GGNRA hater Plater filing Amicus Briefs in Federal Court in support of the GGNRA’s unlawful attempts to disavow their 1979 Pet Policy - as they collectively spit in the face of the enabling legislation that established the GGNRA (note: the GGNRA was established by Congress in 1972 with a recreation first mandate). But he hasn’t stopped there. Now Plater has donned his pom-poms and bullhorn to extol the virtues of this wonderful organization which is having an environmentally very “Big Year”. Whether it be in the venues of the GGNRA Negotiated Rulemaking Committee meetings, the press (of which Plater gets way too much of) or on his multitude of web sites, Plater is now the GGNRA’s biggest fan. They can’t get enough of each other.   

 

Why is this man so dangerous? Why is he worthy of my spending my valuable time writing this perspective?  Because this is a case study where ideologies, personal ambition and avarice trump science and fact.  Unchecked, we as a society risk payment of the ultimate price: the forfeiture of our civil liberties. Oh, but forgive me. I almost forgot... We live in a nation whose government is of the Plater’s, by the Plater’s and for the Plater’s. I rest my case.  

 

Editor's note: Lydia Bosch is one of the attorneys that assisted in the early (2000) fight to maintain our off-leash rights according to the 1979 Pet Policy. She now lives in North Carolina and watches the National Park Service and Judge Alsup's actions from there.

April 28, 2005

 

Elizabeth Murdock

Executive Director

Golden Gate Audubon Society

2530 San Pablo Ave, Suite G

Berkeley, CA  94702-2047

 

Dear Ms. Murdock,

 

I was distressed to see that Golden Gate Audubon has tried to intervene in United States v Barley, et.al. with Brent Plater representing us.  The arguments in Plater’s amicus brief and his public statements are so far separated from the real world that GGAS association with him and his brief reflects badly on our good judgment and commitment to truth.

 

1.  Mr. Plater testified at the SF Police Commission meeting on April 20, 2005 that, dog owners “have filed a lawsuit against the park … that would …destroy the park itself.  They have alleged the land transfer that granted the park to the national government is invalid.  That would eliminate federal jurisdiction altogether.  They’re trying to destroy the entire park system…”

 

In fact the dog owners have filed no lawsuit at all.  They are defendants, defending themselves against citations they consider to be legally invalid.  The defense, if successful, will not “eliminate federal jurisdiction altogether,” nor “destroy the entire park system.”  Mr. Plater is an experienced lawyer.  He knows full well his statements are false.  GGAS’s representative reflects badly on the truthfulness of GGAS.

 

2.  The amicus brief filed on behalf of Audubon (and others) argues to eliminate off-leash recreation in the GGNRA in order to protect the dogs from injury and death.  (“Argument I   Running dogs off leash at the GGNRA puts the welfare of dogs at great risk.  “…literally hundreds of off-leash dogs have been lost, injured, or killed while roaming the park off-leash.”)

 

Surely you don’t believe protecting the health of dogs has anything to do with GGAS’s intervention in United States v Barley, et.al.  Nor would any other reasonable person.  This argument makes GGAS look silly and cynical, discrediting any other statements GGAS might make.

 

By the way, walking off-leash at the beach is a very safe activity for dogs.  It will be fun, if Plater’s intervention is accepted by the court, to watch him try to convince the judge of the bizarre facts alleged in his declaration.  But more discredit for GGAS.

 

3.  Plater engages in a McCarthy-like ad hominem public smear of the defendants in United States v Barley, et.al. which should embarrass GGAS members.  In his posting to the SF Animal Law yahoo group Plater repeats the bogus claim that his brief is to protect the dogs.  (Indeed, he mentions no other reason for the brief in his posting.)  Then, he describes the people he is going after as  “individuals associated with a group called Ocean Beach D.O.G. (sic) … Ocean Beach D.O.G. (sic) espouses the extremist theories of the Pacific Legal Foundation, to whom sections of Ocean Beach D.O.G.'s website is (sic) dedicated. … (Ocean Beach DOG) is helping advance PLF's agenda.”

 

Does GGAS know what is meant by the phrase “guilt by association?”  Ocean Beach DOG does not espouse the views of the Pacific Legal Foundation, has not dedicated their website to PLF, and makes no attempt to advance PLF’s agenda.  Ocean Beach DOG mentions PLF in the context of PLF’s suit asking a federal court to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to act on delisting petitions.  Specifically OBDOG discusses a scientific study, Population Differentiation among Snowy Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus) in North America, by Leah R. Gorman, which must stand or fall on its own merits.  PLF referenced that study in the delisting petitions, but neither wrote nor commissioned it.  Plater’s tactic of argument, smear by “guilt by association,” should be abhorrent to GGAS members.

 

I still hope that GGAS will someday start to choose its battles, its representatives, and its arguments more judiciously. 

 

Best regards,

K.M.

San Francisco, CA 

The failure of logic in Mr. Plater’s Amici Curiae Brief is breathtaking.  He advocates a ban of off-leash dog walking in the GGNRA for the safety of the dogs.  Since this brief is in part on behalf of the Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, I find his conclusion curiously hypocritical.  I would bring to your attention the following statistics from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP):

 

• More than 3.5 million children ages 14 and under get hurt annually playing sports or participating in recreational activities.
• Sports and recreational activities contribute to approximately 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among American children.
• More than 775,000 children, ages 14 and under, are treated in hospital emergency rooms for sports-related injuries each year.

 

 

Children’s participation in sports and recreational activities has not been abolished for their safety.  In fact, we are still constructing and maintaining children’s playgrounds and skateboard parks, as well as encouraging children to participate in organized sports.  We, as a society, recognize that the value of exercise and the social and life skills developed by participation in sports activities is beneficial to children.  The benefits outweigh the risks. 

 

The same can be said for off-leash dog walking.  A local vet when questioned about off-leash exercise said the following, “It’s very important for dogs to get out and get exercise.  The one thing that I know for certain is that dogs do live longer and are healthier and happier if they are socialized, if they get out and get activity and they get exercise.  It’s good for the dogs and it’s also good for the community.  Dogs that are socialized with people and other dogs are not really a risk to the community.  The dogs that attack other dogs and people are usually the dogs that have been confined in their home, in a backyard, and they have had no contact.  It’s important for the dog’s health and happiness, but also for the community as well that they get out”.

 

The SFSPCA has been consistent in their advocacy for off-leash dog walking, citing it as “a vital component of responsible pet ownership.  San Francisco’s Ocean Beach is among the few remaining places in our densely populated urban environment where dogs can socialize freely and run off the energy they’ve built up from having been confined in houses and apartments.  Tens of thousands of dog owners throughout the San Francisco Bay Area depend on Ocean Beach to provide for the health and well-being of their pets.  In return, dogs enrich—even protect—our lives”.

 

Ken White, director of the Peninsula Humane Society, stated: “ PHS believes that there ought to be off-leash areas.  I don’t think there is a humane society that would disagree…It is a fraction, a fraction of our animal control complaints and concerns that come from the off-leash areas… Problems most typically come when people DON’T have an off-leash area to go to and find themselves trying to create one on their own.”  However, he goes on to state: “ I absolutely believe having been in this issue around the country, that you will not come up with a solution that pleases everybody.”

 

The fact is that off-leash dog-walking does not please the groups for which Mr. Plater advocates.  And that is the long and short of it.  However, considering that the transfer of property from San Francisco to the GGNRA was predicated upon continuation by the GGNRA of the historical recreational usage, legally, I believe this is a situation Mr. Plater is just going to have to live with.

 

 S.M.V.

 

The litigation to which Mr. Plater is referring is currently pending on appeal before the Honorable William Alsup in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.  The case (No. 04-CR-0408) is entitled, United States of America v. Gretchen Barley, Donald Kieselhorst, and Stephen S. Sayad.  As Mr. Plater well knows (as demonstrated infra), I, along with Ms. Barley and Mr. Kieselhorst, are defendants in a criminal action brought against us by the federal government over citations we received (under 36 C.F.R. § 2.15(a)(2)) for walking our dogs off-leash on the tidelands at Crissy Field.  None of us (or anyone else of whom I am aware) “filed a lawsuit” against the GGNRA seeking to expand the existing right to off-leash dog walking in a very limited portion of the GGNRA.  To the contrary, we chose to defend against the citations, on two primary grounds:  (1) that the tidelands at Crissy Field are owned by the State of California (as an incident of its absolute sovereignty) in public trust for the citizens of the State for, inter alia, general recreational activities (and therefore not subject to federal regulation);[1] and (2) that the GGNRA never rescinded its official “1979 Pet Policy” which specifically allows for off-leash dog walking in specified areas (including portions of Crissy Field) comprising only one percent (1%) of lands within the GGNRA. 

 

On December 2, 2004, Magistrate Judge Elizabeth LaPorte issued an order granting defendants’ motion to dismiss the citations on the grounds that the GGNRA’s 1979 Pet Policy was still in full force and effect.  The United States chose to appeal Judge LaPorte’s decision.  Defendants filed a protective cross appeal, and the matter is currently in the briefing stage with a hearing on the appeal scheduled for May 31, 2005 before Judge Alsup.

 

Accordingly, Mr. Plater’s statement that “three individuals filed a lawsuit against the park” is patently false, and was known to be false at the time it was made to the Commission.  Indeed, on April 6, 2005 (after the opening appellate briefs of the United States and defendants had been filed), Mr. Plater left me a voicemail message stating that “certain organizations” he represents wished to file an amicus brief on the appeal.  I returned Mr. Plater’s phone call and requested that he specify what issues involved in the action his clients wished to address.  At 7:43 p.m. on April 6, 2005, Mr. Plater sent me an e-mail stating:

 

The Center for Biological Diversity and several other non-profit organizations intend to file an amicus brief in the above-referenced matter [“United States v. Barley, et al., Case No.CR-04-00408-WHA”] tomorrow, April 7, 2005.  The purpose of the brief will be to inform the Court that off-leash dog walking at the GGNRA is harming dogs, harming wildlife, and inconsistent with the purpose of the GGNRA as established by Congress over 30 years ago.  I am writing to determine if you will, or if you will not, consent to the filing of this amicus brief.

 

Thus, at least as early as April 6, 2005 (and likely much earlier), Mr. Plater was well aware of the fact that neither I nor the other defendants had filed suit against the federal government, that we were simply defending ourselves against citations we believed were improperly issued, and that Judge LaPorte had in fact found that the GGNRA’s long-standing 1979 Pet Policy remained in effect, had not been rescinded in accordance with applicable law, and forbade the federal government from issuing citations for off-leash dog walking in the areas encompassed by the 1979 Pet Policy.

 

The question therefore arises as to Mr. Plater’s motives for misrepresenting these facts to the Commission.[2]  I believe his motives are clearly aimed at the creation of a false record that off-leash dog walking is out of control, in the hopes of putting pressure on the Commission that action is necessary to curb off-leash dog walking.  While I have my own feelings (irrelevant here) as to what Mr. Plater and the Center for Biological Diversity hope to diversify, I recognize their right to free speech in addressing the Commission.  What I strongly object to, and what should not be allowed, is what I find tantamount to the filing of a false police report when Mr. Plater so blatantly misrepresents facts to the Commission in order to further the interests of the organizations he represents and whose views he shares.[3]

 

I submit that Mr. Plater should be censured for his misrepresentations to the Commission.  There is no room for his attempts to create a false and misleading record in order to promote his agenda and the agenda of his clients.  Unless the Commission takes action against Mr. Plater, it will be opening the door (if it has not already occurred) for others to attempt to manipulate the truth in the hopes of exerting pressure and extracting action on the part of this and other City commissions and agencies.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Stephen Samuel Sayad

Judge Confirms $600,000 Libel Award and Finds Fault with Environmentalists

From the Sacramento Bee - Environment, Inc.

No environmental group in America files more endangered species cases at a more frenetic pace than the Southwest Center, which has since dropped the "Southwest" from its name to reflect its expansion into California and Oregon. Public records show that from 1994 to 1999 alone, the Center for Biological Diversity and its lawyers filed 58 lawsuits, an average of one every 32 days.

---

Occasionally environmental lawsuits cause other damage -- to the very groups that file them.

One such case unraveled in Arizona recently when the Southwest Center sued the U.S. Forest Service, alleging that it failed to "consult" with the Fish and Wildlife Service about cattle grazing's effect on endangered species -- a violation of federal law.

The suit targeted large swaths of federal land leased to ranchers, including a lease held by Joe and Valer Austin, owners of the picturesque El Coronado Ranch in the Chiricahau mountains.

The Austins are no ordinary husband-and-wife ranch team.

Since buying El Coronado in 1984, they have invested more than $1 million to return it to ecological health. They have constructed 20,000 erosion control structures, cut back herds dramatically and reduced the seasons they graze, and worked to restore threatened and endangered species. They have welcomed university and government scientists to the ranch to observe their efforts.

Their work has earned them numerous awards, including the Joseph Wood Krutch Award from The Nature Conservancy in 1996 and, two years later, the W.R. Chapline Land Stewardship Award from the Society for Range Management.

That didn't satisfy the Southwest Center, which alleged in its 1998 Forest Service suit that the Austins' ranching practices were harming endangered species.

"It was a real slap in the face," Joe Austin said.

Valer Austin added: "They just put us in the same bucket with everybody else. They didn't even come out here to see what we were doing."

The Austins didn't stand idly by. They jumped into the lawsuit with the federal government -- and emerged victorious. Senior U.S. District Judge Alfredo Marquez in Tucson ruled that the suit had been brought in bad faith and ordered the center to pay the Austins' $56,909 legal bill.

Still, Joe Austin feels conservation has suffered a defeat.

"Everything we were trying to do to convince other ranchers and landowners that endangered species are not a liability has been lost," he said. "The Southwest Center proved me wrong. The Southwest Center proved to everybody that having an endangered species is a liability.

"In fact, many people think you should just get rid of them," Austin said. "That is the exact thing I didn't want to happen."

What's the center's view? "It's a bummer," said Suckling. "I wish it had not come down this way. But would I sue again? Absolutely. (The Austins) are having an impact on public land. The fact that they are doing good things elsewhere doesn't excuse it."

---

Kieran Suckling is the Executive Director of the Center for Biological Diversity. This is an extreme environmentalist organization as you can see....

Reporter: "You are forcing change on society and you are aware of it?"

Suckling: "Yeah! Isn't that what an activist is! What do you think an activist is? We change society!"

Reporter: "Can't you do this in a humane and gentle way?"

{take a deep breath before reading on}

Suckling: "It is sad, but I don't hear you put that in a direct relationship to the effect on the land. I hear you talk about the pain of the people but I don't see you match that up with the pain of the species."

Reporter: (dumbfounded) "What?"

Suckling: A loach minnow is more important, than say, Betty and Jim's ranch - a thousand times more important. I'm not against ranching, it is a job. My concern is the impact on the land."

S.R.G.

I grew up in the east bay area, and have lived in the city of San Francisco
for the past decade.  San Francisco's residents are fortunate enough to live
in a dense urban area enhanced by over 200 city owned open spaces (city
parks) and acres of federal recreational areas (Golden Gate National
Recreational Area) directly adjacent to/surrounding the city in which we can
recreate.  These areas are important for the earth (for reasons I know you
understand) and important for the people who live near and recreate in them.
They allow city dwellers to maintain a critical relationship with the earth
and her inhabitants, and remind people of the fact that we are part of a
larger ecosystem.

San Francisco is also a very dog-friendly city - several areas of the city
have more than 3,000 dogs per square mile, and every 4th household has at
least one dog.  These dogs are important companions for urban dweller's
psychological and physiological health, foster humane behavior, offer an
important connection to the natural world, create safer urban open spaces,
act as a sort of "social glue" - bringing people together as the ultimate
ice-breaker, they also are at the center of communities of people who share
and recreate in these parks and open spaces.

Off-leash recreation is critical to all dogs health and welfare, and if you
do not agree or do not understand this, I invite you to come visit San
Francisco for just one day - or even longer - and see how well-behaved,
happy and healthy our dogs are.  You can also read the documents in support
for off-leash recreation written by our local SPCA here:
http://www.sfspca.org/advocacy/off-leash.shtml

Tourists always stare in wonder as all the dogs get along, and at how
well-behaved the dogs are - often times taking pictures and openly making
statements that they, "wish it was like this where we live".

Sadly, the assault on off-leash recreation is a nation wide problem and the
areas where dogs can exercise under the direct supervision of their
guardians is nearly extinct in many areas.  In many areas, this recreational
activity is being fenced into undesirable pens (only useful for people who
have not trained their dogs and incredibly boring for dogs who have had the
benefit of a better existence), and more and more trail or open space
recreation is being taken away from us every day.  It is not only
irresponsible to not train our dogs so that they can recreate under voice
control, but inhumane and unreasonable to keep dogs tethered or fenced their
entire life.  As a life-long animal right activist, I am against zoos for
many reasons, and I'm not about to sentence my animal companions to live
their lives in zoo-like conditions.  Dogs have been an important part of
human society since the early development of our species, and they offer a
great number of benefits for humans - the least we can do is continue to
work/live closely with them and exercise them properly.

I have lived with dogs literally since the day I was born (our dog had
puppies 3 days before) and have lived with companion dogs under many
different environmental circumstances (urban, suburban and rural).  I have
made the choice to live in an urban area, in large part because of my
dedication to the protection of the environment - but I also lived on 40
acres in Oregon and did wildlife rescue there, while volunteering for Earth
First (of course, I also lived with my rescued dogs during this time).

In San Francisco, where dogs are allowed off-leash exercise in some of our
many open spaces, it is the best situation for dogs to live in, hands-down.
Here, companion dogs are exercised off-leash 2-4 times a day with a
wide-variety of other dogs (different ages, breeds, temperaments, etc.),
become incredibly well-socialized (unlike any other dogs living in other
less dynamic and vibrant situations), and most importantly, they get to live
in close proximity with their people 24/7 - living indoors as part of the
family.  San Francisco's dogs are some of the most well-behaved, well-cared
for, and well-adjusted dogs on the planet.  To have these domesticated
animals live with people in a dense urban environment, not only reduces
sprawl (and living in "solitary confinement" in a yard - the worse case
scenario for dogs), but beautifully maintains the wonderful symbiotic
relationship we have had with dogs for more than 20,000 years.

Yet, with all these open spaces and all these dogs - dogs are only allowed
off-leash in LESS THAN 1% of the city and federal open space areas.  Please
understand that the areas we have taken our dogs to traditionally are the
parks that were previously unsafe (which we have now made safe), or
undesirable (windy, barren areas formerly used/abused by the military for
hundreds of years, with ordinances hiding in the sand).  We are not taking
over, we are not demanding exclusive use, and we are not making any larger
an impact on these areas than the thousands of humans who recreate in the
remaining 99%.

People walking with off-leash dogs are no more destructive, or have any more
of an impact than the other recreational activities taking place in these
areas and others.  Just a short-list of common recreational activities
taking place in these areas are: horse-back riding, mountain biking, hiking,
picnicking, beach party bon-fires on the beach, kids playing on the
dunes/sand skiing, barbequing, sailing, surfing, kite-flying, kite-boarding,
swimming, running, skate-boarding, roller-blading, etc.  These activities
happen all year long in 100% of these areas.  Less than 1% of these area
allow for off-leash dog walking.  Even if we doubled that percentage, we
would still be recreating in a very small percentage of the open space areas
available to us.  Remember too, that dogs are many people's introduction to
and connection with these opens spaces and the natural world; without their
dog(s), they may never explore or learn to appreciate or value these open
recreational areas.

Also, you should be aware that these areas are not "pristine ecosystems",
these are former military bases located within a dense urban area.  Yes,
they offer an oasis to those living here, they have their own
mini-ecosystems, and they allow for people to maintain a connection to
nature - but they are RECREATIONAL areas, not fragile ecosystems such as
Point Reyes or Ana Nuevo - these areas are critical wildlife habitat the
requires protection.  And the primary polluters and destroyers of any
ecosystem are never humans walking with their dogs - they are industry (oil,
timber, agricultural, mining, development, etc.)  That you want to "kick the
dog" rather than take on the real problem abusers and destroyers is
absolutely pathetic and seriously misguided.

That you would include these areas in your habitat protection action alerts
section and make these areas a target makes me, sadly, very suspect of your
other programs.  If you have not studied these areas enough to know what you
are talking about, that you say you are "protecting endangered species and
wild places through science..." and yet, seem to have never even visited
these areas in person, really applied any common sense, or reviewed the
scientific studies about these areas and the impact of dogs on them, proves
that this tagline may be a marketing falsity without any substance or
reality behind it.

I have been a vegan, animal right activist and environmentalist for over 22
years.  I have been an active member of Earth First, PETA, Natural Resources
Defense Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, and a vast number of other
environmental and humane organizations.  I was a Sierra Club and Audubon
member as a young child, but when I was still in elementary school I
withdrew my membership when I learned these organizations both condone
hunting.  My entire life has been dedicated to the heath and well-being of
animals (both wild and domestic), the environment and the protection and
support of these though everyday action.  Your group is one I would normally
contribute to and support, but with your mis-directed, under-educated and
inappropriate assault on off-leash recreation in this particular area, I
cannot.

But perhaps you are simply unaware of the statements your local
representative has been making, and unaware of the facts in this case.

Your local representative, Mr. Brent Plater, has been making outrageous
statements on behalf of your group at the San Francisco Police Commission
meetings
(http://majestic.ipolis.net/ops/tplgen.php?X=C1001&T=sfgtv&S=R4-1212).  At
last Wednesday's meeting, he claimed that your group has sued the federal
government to obtain rights the off-leash community have never even had.  A
couple years ago he wrote an editorial for Chronicle attacking off-leash
policy citing false statistics on sea mammals.  He has a small dog living
with a disability and does not like off-leash dogs because they approach his
dog and this activity concerns him - but this gives him no right to voice
his own opinion on something affecting him personally by using your group's
name, or to make these false claims and use your group's name to further his
personal dislike for off-leash recreation.

Also, because Mr. Plater has adopted a dog with a disability, it is up to
him to protect and exercise this dog is areas where it is safe to do so.
This can sometimes require some creativity on his part, but it is his
responsibility - not everyone's else's, and public policy should not revolve
around his own personal situation.  I have been the guardian of a very
fear-aggressive, under socialized giant breed dog in the past, and although
it was at times frustrating when off-leash dogs approached us, I recognized
the fact that it was MY dog who had the behavior problem, not theirs - and
so we altered our behavior to minimize these interactions by exercising in
areas that were less populated, or at times of day that were less busy with
other dogs and people.  If I were down at the Police Commission meetings
complaining about other people's dogs when mine was the one with the
problem, that would have been an incredibly selfish and imbalanced reaction
to the situation.

None of Mr. Plater's aggressive statements and actions against off-leash
recreation are based in science, none of his actions I have witnessed are
true environmentalism, and none of this activity furthers the environmental
protection of areas that require it.  I hope he is misrepresenting your
group and you will take action against his attacks on off-leash recreation
in San Francisco, but if he is not, then I can only say that the Center for
Biological Diversity is a sham.


Sincerely,

C.L.M.
San Francisco, CA