Take a long look at letting dogs in state parks

On Long Island this spring, the push resumes to allow people for the first time to bring their dogs to state parks and beaches.

Pet owners, understandably, have petitioned for years to lift long-standing restrictions. Many speak of how there is nothing quite like the liberating joy of walking an open space, like a shoreline, and breathing it all in, with one’s furry friend bopping and running along. The question is whether letting canines accompany their owners and handlers into much of our priceless park system is in the broadest public interest. Other visitors have their own concerns about the quality of their surroundings.

The advisability of lifting the dog ban hinges on that common-interest question. It's one of many issues that deal nowadays with how we share public space and discourage and respond to inconsiderate behavior by the few.

A pending bill sponsored by State Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Brentwood) and Assemb. Steve Stern (D-Dix Hills) would allow dogs in state parks except the Adirondacks and Catskills parks upstate. The laudable goal of the measure is stated in its text: to “encourage coexistence between park visitors, dogs, wildlife and the environment.”

Making that happen could be a logistical challenge. An important aspect of the bill as drafted — currently before committees in both chambers — authorizes park officials, perhaps region by region, to set relevant rules as to when and where dogs would be permitted. For example, few people at Jones Beach will want dogs freely mingling with summertime throngs of sunbathers and swimmers and on children’s playgrounds.

Appropriately, a general outline is written into the bill. Dogs would have to be leashed except in specified park areas. Dog-care stations would be required, including garbage cans and the availability of biodegradable waste bags. Custodians must assume liability for the dogs, which are to be kept 100 feet from protected areas for wildlife and nesting. And the bill states plainly: “Waste shall be removed and disposed of by the dog owner.”

Skeptics can be forgiven if they worry whether those essential rules will be sufficiently enforced. Similar scenarios in other states and jurisdictions should be studied for how well they succeed.

Littering is against the rules everywhere — and look how much surrounds us on Long Island. And consider all the neighborhoods here and elsewhere where poop-scoop laws are commonly disregarded on streets. It’s reasonable to ask: Would authorities enforce waste curbs any more effectively in open-ended areas such as a beach or park trail?

For those reasons, we say as we did two years ago that while it makes sense to loosen dog restrictions in the least-populated recreation areas, human visitors and natural habitats must come first. For that, we’d like detailed assurance from park officials from the top down that they could and would enforce the rules and really make this to the common benefit.