Draft Dog Management Plan/SEIS

In 2013, the GGNRA released the Draft Dog Management Plan/Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for a 90-day public review and comment period. The SEIS followed a DEIS, released in January 2011 that generated 4,700 comment letters. The SEIS responded to the substantive public comments on the draft plan/EIS and included an analysis of dog management for Rancho Corral de Tierra, a site in San Mateo County that was added to the park in December 2011, after the development and release of the draft Plan/EIS.

As a result of the consideration of substantive comments made on the 2011 DEIS, the SEIS incorporated new data, considered additional research, made some changes to the impacts analysis, revised the management strategy to accentuate and expand monitoring and eliminate automatic triggers, evaluated fencing as a future management tool to manage dog walking impacts, adjusted the preferred alternative at several sites, and included site specific alternatives and analysis for Rancho Corral de Tierra.

The SEIS evaluated the impacts of six alternatives, including a Preferred Alternative, for dog management in 22 sites within the 18,500 acres that are owned and directly managed by Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The SEIS did not address lands within the park boundary managed by other agencies such as the Presidio Trust or Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

The preferred alternative included:

• Site-specific treatments that provide a balanced range of visitor experiences, with areas that allow on-leash and off-leash/voice-control dog walking, as well as areas that prohibit dogs
• Off-leash/voice control dog walking in seven specific areas of the park where impacts to visitor experience and safety and sensitive resources would be minimized
• On-leash dog walking in many areas of the park
• No dog walking in areas of the park where impacts were unacceptable and could not be mitigated
• A monitoring-based management strategy that would measure compliance with the dog walking regulation and impacts to resources. The resulting data would inform park management and law enforcement when, where, and how to prioritize responses to noncompliance
• Permits allowing both individual and commercial dog walkers to walk more than three dogs, with a limit of six dogs, in seven areas of the park
• Site-specific analysis of dog walking alternatives in Rancho Corral de Tierra.

The Draft Dog Management Plan/SEIS and other supporting documents can be found at the NPS Park Planning website, “GGNRA Dog Management Planning” under the “Document List” link.

Click here to read the SEIS Public Comment Report.