Blue Ridge Parkway rangers to tighten up on leash laws
By Scott Nicholson

The National Park Service is stepping up enforcement of pet leash laws for properties along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The move comes after a rising number of complaints about pets, mostly dogs, who are not kept on leashes at the parks and hiking trails along the 469-mile roadway. John Garrison, chief ranger for the parkway in North Carolina, said, “We’re seeing an increased number of encounters of dog versus people, dog versus dog, and dog versus wildlife.”

Garrison said the goal of current publicity was to make pet owners aware of the regulations and seek voluntary compliance. However, this summer rangers will be cracking down on violations and writing tickets. Violations carry a $50 fine, though other penalties may be imposed depending on the circumstances and aggravating factors.

“In the past 18 months, four people have been bitten, and some were reported well after the fact,” Garrison said. “More and more folks are using parks, and that’s great, but that increases the need for pets to be restrained.”

Garrison said that leash laws were marked on most trails and at park entrances. He said “voice control” was not an acceptable standard, and reminded the public at a Wednesday news conference that the national park is for everyone.

Garrison said stray or unleashed dogs raised several concerns. First is the health and safety issue, with the potential for bites and rabies. Second is the enjoyment of all people who use the parks and trails. Third, unleashed dogs often chase wildlife.

“A dog’s first instinct is often to chase wildlife,” Garrison said. “That has disturbed the daily routine of that animal. The parks are not only a place of public enjoyment, they are set aside to provide sanctuary.”

Garrison added that “some folks are truly afraid at seeing a dog.” He said the rangers would be beefing up enforcement after a short grace period, then will take a no-tolerance position. “Quite frankly, we have to have the pet owners’ help on this. We’ll ask for it for a while, then we’ll insist on it.”

Garrison said another problem was that sometimes dogs escaped from their owners who got lost in the parks while running free. Those dogs sometimes turn feral and pose other problems. Foxes, raccoons and other wildlife that can carry and transmit rabies are common and may infect an unvaccinated dog.

Garrison said the effort comes in conjunction with leash laws in Buncombe and Roanoke (Va.) counties, where leash laws are in effect throughout the entire county. He also said the Boone and Blowing Rock area is becoming one of the more urbanized sections of the parkway.

David Long, director of Asheville-based Buncombe Animal Services, told parkway officials his agency fields 6,000 to 7,000 complaints a year about stray and free-roaming dogs that attack joggers and bicyclists, turn over garbage cans, create traffic hazards, and otherwise create hazards and nuisances.

Buncombe and Roanoke county ordinances require dog and cat owners to leash or otherwise provide physical control over animals that are off the owner’s property. 

Resistance to leashing pets may be partly a cultural issue, according to Garrison, since many of the 29 mountain parkway counties are still rural and those pet-owners are probably less likely to restrain or vaccinate their animals.

Garrison said that the parkway requires pets to be on leashes not exceeding six feet in length. “Our visitors are often in close proximity, whether camping, picnicking, sharing a popular overlook, or passing one another on a hiking trail,” he said. “Add to this that the parkway is the most-visited national park area in America and you can see why it is so important that pets be under close control.”

Garrison noted that National Park Service regulations apply to all pets, including cats, which prey on small game and birds.

“Our goal is to let people know about the leash law and ask them to help by being in compliance,” Garrison said. “That would really be the best solution for all of us.”

The park has also secured emergency funding to help repair trail erosion and other damage from last fall’s flooding. Dave Bauer, district ranger for the parkway’s Boone and Blowing Rock district, said maintenance positions will be up to full staff this summer, while the parkway’s head office said extra positions will be hired.

Bauer, who has been in the position three months, said nobody locally has been bitten by a dog on the parkway, though there have been reports of animals approaching aggressively.

“Throughout the parkway, people get bit,” he said. “The dogs sometimes chase wildlife and get lost, then we can’t find the owners and have to turn them in to the pound. There are dogs up here we’ve been unable to capture, and they’re sleeping outdoors. They look real bad. So the leash law is not just for people, it protects the dogs as well.”

* Scott Nicholson may be contacted

at nicholson@wataugademocrat.com.