Preserve the preserve: Clean up after your dog

Dear Editor,

The distressingly ironic photo of a dog walker walking her dog in the midst of a beautiful Catskill Mountain winter at Thorn Preserve in Woodstock, N.Y., is an iconic example of the pandering to outdoor recreation interests in a so-called “preserve” in general and to the ubiquitous dog walkers of Ulster County and throughout the Catskill Park in particular.

Never mind the fact that even amidst the pristine snow beauty of midwinter, the natural world is still not safe from the encouragement of land conservancies to mar and despoil with hordes of dog walkers the unique and untouched ecosystems of the Catskills! That there is no attempt with environmental education or environmental ethics by local land conservancies or Scenic Hudson (who have also let dogs loose on their preserves) to show the public how unrestricted access to dogs in preserves is destroying the Catskill Environment is proof enough of their calamitous environmental policies, abetted by a slick propaganda machine which turns a blind eye to such negative environmental impacts.

The deleterious effects of dogs rampaging and disturbing the wildlife, ecology and the degradation of trails in preserves, town parks (Comeau for example) and state parks is apparent. I have walked the trails of Thorn Preserve and many of the Scenic Hudson properties and none are safe from this outdoor atrocity. I would not even want to walk, ski or snowshoe in Thorn Preserve now, lest I foul my bindings on canine excrement or be assaulted by a dog. Is no natural green place in the Catskills safe from these environmental outrages?

— Victor C. Capelli

Ulster Park, N.Y.