Actions taken to allow dogs on Salmon Arm’s foreshore trail appear to have had a more positive impact than previously posted signage which attempted to prohibit canines from the popular pedestrian pathway.
In December, 2015, city council concluded a contentious debate of whether or not dogs should be allowed on the trail. This debate was prompted by pre-existing signs at trail access points prohibiting dogs, which were contrary to the current city bylaws, and a request from the public asking that leashed dogs be given free access.
Council’s decision was to allow dogs on the trail, with the following provisions: dogs be on leashes no longer than two metres; dog waste bag dispensers be installed; dogs be prohibited on the two viewing platforms and from using the trail during the “critical nesting period” between April 15 and June 15. Signage was also to be installed indicating dogs, on leash, were permitted.
In addition, council moved to establish a working group of stakeholders that would develop a one-year monitoring plan for the trail.
Last week, Salmon Arm council received the results of that monitoring effort and more, contained in a comprehensive report prepared by Phil McIntyre-Paul and Jeremy Ayotte entitled: Raven Foreshore Trail – Domestic Dog Management: Habitat, Inventory, Compensation, Monitoring and Adaptive Plan.
Included in the report is data comparing observations of incidents of non-compliance (where dogs were: off leash or on leashes too long, in restricted areas, harassing wildlife or on the trail during the nesting period) before and after council’s decision. In short, the number of non-compliance issues were greater before council’s decision than after (28 incidents compared to seven).
“There is a notable change in favour of overall compliance before and after the co-ordinated monitoring and mitigation measures were implemented in 2016,” states the report. “The summer surveys show a notably low percentage of dog walkers compared to overall trail users during the same period… and an even more notably low level of high-risk non-compliance (off-leash) during the same period.”
The report makes some budget recommendations for additional, ongoing monitoring, the annual administration of monitoring and working group and additional signage, costing between $3,250 and $4,450 (depending on in-kind offerings), as well as another $5,000 for a proposed State-of-the-Bay symposium.
Council said it would decide on the financial requests at a future meeting, but was pleased with the report’s results and favourable to ongoing monitoring.
“I have to say, I have a couple dogs and haven’t walked them down there in the last five-six years because there are other alternatives,” said Coun. Kevin Flynn. “But I’m glad people who want to can. I’m glad to see people following the rules and it seems to be working well.”
Flynn also commented on the current signage, that it is fun yet clear.
Coun. Alan Harrison said the report’s findings echo what he saw on the trail – few dogs with polite owners.
“The other thing is it’s interesting that… you almost need a crisis to have a good thing happen sometimes, because things are better now than when we started to play with the bylaw a little bit,” said Harrison. “In previous years that I’ve been down there, certainly the number of off-leash dogs has decreased remarkably, as your stats show.”
The trail is currently closed due to rehabilitation work, but will re-open in March.
