Dog manners
The human population explosion in Carbondale has also created a dog population explosion. Truth be told, many of us prefer dogs to humans. After all, it’s the irresponsible humans who are now causing almost daily altercations at both the Nature Park and Hendrick Ranch dog parks.
Both areas have signs outlining the laws and rules of the park, but they are printed in small print on signs away from the entrance. They also offer no information for reporting aggressive dogs and, often, their even more aggressive owners. Letters last summer to the Parks and Recreation Commission — followed up in September with an in-person plea which suggested updated language for park rules — have changed nothing. Currently, the signs state:
“Aggressive dog behavior is not permitted within the park area. If your dog(s) can’t play without causing dog fights or attacking other dogs while playing, you may be asked to refrain from bringing your dog inside the park. Any dog owner / handler who believes a dog brought into the park does not exhibit appropriate social interaction with other dogs, can ask that owner/handler to remove his / her dog from the park. If this situation persists, the owner / handler who brings their aggressive dog(s) inside the park can be cited for a violation of the municipal code ordinance 7-6-180.”
The signs do not clarify what qualifies as “aggressive behavior.” At the dog parks, aggressive behavior may present itself as a dog that constantly harasses, nips at, humps and fights other dogs. When called out on these behaviors, their owners are more likely to end up in a screaming match than offer to leave the park. I’ve witnessed owners threaten to “bring a weapon next time” and have heard of physical brawls and violence taking place. Still, stupidity prevails, with owners of aggressive dogs who bite and harass claiming, “He’s just playing.” Frankly, responsible owners are disgusted. The bullies are winning.
Many issues are a result of a new trend to refrain from neutering dogs until two years of age. A plea to local vets to warn dog owners of aggressive behaviors when these dogs reach adolescence around six to nine months has been met with either silence or, you guessed it, blaming the police department for not monitoring the parks. I prefer the police department to handle more important issues rather than spend their time parked outside the dog parks, don’t you?
It’s simple, if you refuse to neuter your dog when it displays these behaviors then walk it on a leash outside of the parks.
I was recently bitten by a dog and ended up with eight puncture wounds and damaged tendons in my hand. I was met with a complete lack of concern from the dog’s owners and a refusal to provide vaccination records so that I could get appropriate care at the emergency room. They accused me of trying to grift them, and it took a police report and intervention to get the records. I was shocked that their first reaction was to act irresponsibly and threateningly.
The Parks and Recreation Commission needs to launch an information campaign regarding unacceptable dog behaviors, revamp their signs and placement and set up a method for reporting these bullies and any injuries at the parks. Without mitigating what is becoming an endemic issue in Carbondale, more serious altercations are inevitable.
Denise Moss, Carbondale
Thanks!
Thank you for supporting Crystal River Elementary School by sponsoring “Rams Run.” Because of Rams Run, we were able to do fun things such as ice skating during physical education, plus a fourth grade camping trip and adventure to the bookstore. The camping trip was fun because we got to sleep with our friends and go to the museum. We all loved camping and I will always remember the camping trip. I will especially remember when we heard coyotes at night. Also the bookstore was fun because we got to pick out a book and buy it.
Elouise, Maya, David, and Melanie, CCRES
A Fun Weekend
In a recent speech on the floor of Congress, our representative, Lauren Boebert, attacked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in order to defend her “right” to bring her gun to work. She said that alcohol, tobacco and firearms are described by the statement: “in Western Colorado, we call that a fun weekend.”
Another kind of fun weekend happens all summer and fall in the tiny town of Marble, which is also a result of attitudes which place “rights” before responsibilities. Off highway vehicle (OHV) users overwhelm the town and surrounding forest, using two to three times the parking spaces as other visitors for their truck/trailers. They bring noise at unhealthy levels, fumes, trail damage from erosion, and dust. They drive on and destroy living plants and intimidate less powerful visitors with aggressive driving.
Almost all the OHV users are from “Boebert Country” and many are packing firearms to enforce their “rights.” These “rights” are announced by the display of Trump, Confederate and American flags on their machines. Attempts to protect public or private property through education programs often result in confrontations and threats of violence. Physical barriers are necessary to protect any natural area from being destroyed.
Alcohol is another “right” exercised by this user group, while driving these powerful machines on trails shared by pedestrians.
Tobacco use is an actual right, but recent legislation demands responsibility in its use. The damaging effects of secondhand smoke are now recognized by prohibition of smoking where it impacts others.
The Gunnison County commissioners have erected signs in Marble stating that use of OHVs on the county road is a privilege, not a “right.” They are now considering extending this privilege at the expense of the “rights” of their constituents, both human and natural, to peace, quiet, protection of property values, and freedom from exposure to toxic substances.
But to be perfectly honest, these “rights” are also not real. Rachel Carson wrote the landmark book “Silent Spring” in 1962, where she states: “If the Bill of Rights contains no guarantees that citizens shall be secure against lethal poisons … it is surely only because our forefathers, despite their considerable wisdom and forethought, could conceive of no such problem.”
During the same time period, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas began the movement to protect the “rights” of humans and nature from harmful acts by others. The movement has continued with an Ecological Bill of Rights adopted by Pitkin County and Aspen decades ago and more recently by Carbondale.
Should Gunnison County also adopt this policy to address these concerns in every environmental decision they make, including the fun weekends in Marble? Wisdom and forethought are no longer required, the problems are there for anyone to see.
Alex Menard, Marble
USPS
In June 2020, the Trump administration appointed Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General. He is a UPS and FedEx investor according to the United States Postal Service (USPS) website. He then sabotaged USPS prior to the first nation wide mail-in ballot election ever. Dejoy’s first act was to remove hundreds of drop boxes in democratic states. That created long lines and longer distances to travel for poorer voters. Then, down budgeting and uninstalling automatic sorters — along with personnel reductions — decimated this once proud federal service.
The USPS has bound together our society, economy and communications since its inception and is much more worthy than any private corporation that must make a profit for its investors. Its mission, “to provide the nation with reliable, affordable, universal mail service,” is meant to serve and strengthen the abilities and voices of the American people.
DeJoy’s actions show he would shut that down if he could. Trump lost to President Biden that November, but his postal scourge lives on.
Judge Emmet Sullivan wrote in his 65-page opinion Thursday Oct. 6 2022, “The evidence demonstrates that [the states and localities] suffered harm by impeding their ability to combat the spread of COVID-19, impeding their ability to provide safe alternatives to in-person voting and by imposing costs and administrative burdens on state and local governments.”
The solution is a public call to retire DeJoy and re-fund our precious postal service, restoring its ability to serve America as it is meant to.
John Hoffmann, Carbondale
Re: Crystal Trail
This is in response to Heather Froelicher’s letter on Feb. 9. I want to reiterate her response to the Forest Service’s approval of the Crystal Valley Trail from Redstone to McClure Pass. I objected to their decision many months ago and filed an objection again this month. Scott Fitzwilliams’ decision to approve the trail never addressed my original objection.
A census of all wildlife, not just a select few, needs to be taken before any decision is made, to get a baseline on the health of all species that will be impacted. It is commonly known that the fragmentation of wildlife habitat and corridors impedes migration and produces inbreeding, resulting in defects that can lead to death. This trail will only further reduce our already dwindling deer and bighorn sheep populations. We won’t know what other populations will be impacted until all populations in the proposed trail route are counted and studied over a period of years.
The decision imposes a seasonal closure of nearly five miles of the trail above Highway 133 during the winter to protect elk and, if elk calving activity is detected, the closure will be extended until June 30. The problem with seasonal closures is that officials note a decline in compliance. Phil Nyland, a wildlife biologist from the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District is quoted in an article from the Nov. 29 Aspen Daily News about the seasonal closures of Avalanche Creek as follows: “Since we first implemented the closures in 1996, both the human population in the region and winter activity in the Avalanche Creek has grown, while the big game populations have declined. As more people use the area, compliance with the closures has decreased, particularly involving dogs. It’s clear to me that the presence of dogs in the closed area contributes to the lower numbers of big game, as does the amount of people.”
Further, Mr. Fitzwilliams’ decision states that “long term management and enhancement projects aim to make areas more useful for winter elk” and “increasing visitor use would be managed.” The elk don’t need management and enhancement projects. They need to be left alone! How would increasing visitor use be managed? This trail is a terrible idea and needs to be rejected.
Melissa Waters, Crystal River Valley
Balsa wood
In last week’s Sun, Commissioner Jankovsky is quoted making disparaging statements about the balsa wood used in wind turbine blades, but it’s actually old news. Most balsa wood comes from long-standing sustainable plantations in Ecuador. However, during and around 2020, balsa wood prices tripled. During that period “wild” balsa was logged illegally along some rivers there, but nothing like the scale of deforestation for other resources. Since then, balsa prices and demand have fallen. A representative of the Wampis tribal nation recently stated, “Ecuadorians no longer come for balsa; we managed to eradicate that.” Fortunately, balsa trees regrow extremely quickly.
Wind power manufacturers have substituted foam cores for balsa cores in many blade components, reducing demand and prices. The balsa still used comes from Ecuador’s plantations. These supply most of the world’s needs from 75 square miles. By comparison, Alabama has 9,000 square miles of pine plantations.
Opponents of renewable energy seem better at getting their stories to “go viral.” Many progressives and environmental activists are now hesitant to support renewable energy, citing multiple “concerns” about these power sources. How many reports about Mojave solar farms have noted that desert tortoises and their forage are thriving in the shade under the panels of some existing solar farms there?
On my Christmas trip to Santa Fe, I went 100 miles further south to get up close and personal with the 400 turbines at the country’s largest recent wind project. Since the turbines are on New Mexico state land, one can cruise in and stand under the spinning blades. Ranching continues right up to the towers. On average over a year, each generates power for a thousand typical houses. When the generators wear out, they will be “repowered” to keep producing sustainable power. If the tower fatigues, it will be scrapped at Pueblo into recycled steel. Try that with a mile of drill pipe down to a depleted gas shale formation.
Fred Porter, Carbondale
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