When I moved to Darnestown eighteen years ago, I began walking the C&O  
canal towpath a couple of times a week.  Very quickly I noticed that dogs  were 
run off leash regularly.  Some dogs walked quietly and obediently by  their 
owners legs; others leaped into the canal, ran through the woods, or far  
ahead of their owners.  Not liking what I was seeing, I wrote the head of  
the NPS asking why the law was not enforced.
 
Shortly I received a letter back, signed by a high level official,  saying 
that they "appreciated my interest in the C&O National  Historical Park, 
blah, blah, blah, and that dog leash laws were "rigorously  enforced."
 
So I wrote back immediately asking how many citations and warnings had been 
 issued in the past five years for unleashed dogs.  Silence.  After  
awhile, a man at the C&O Park HQ called on the telephone (no record to refer  to) 
to weasel his way through the issue.  I pressed him on the numbers and  
after some reluctance he admitted that the answer was, ta da, zero.  
 
The enforcement of dog leash laws on NPS property like the C&O Canal  and 
elsewhere is not a question of lack of staff, it is a question of lack of  
will.  The NPS does not WANT to enforce the laws  re dog leashes.  if they 
did, any time on a weekend when an enforcement  officer was present, violators 
could be cited.  The NPS gives every  impression of fearing the political 
power of dog lovers.
 
I too love dogs.  But it bothers me that apartment dwellers acquire  large 
dogs that need to be run and then expect to run them on public property  
where such action is prohibited.  They apparently think it is their  right to 
run their dogs where they want.  I have gently advised  several over the 
years that dogs must be leashed.  Anger, denial, and  disbelief have been the 
reaction.  
 
I think the answer for this conundrum is two fold:
 
    The NPS should designate an area where dogs can be  legally run off 
leash.
 
    Many people write letters asking the NPS to enforce  the law at all 
other places.
 
Based on my experience, I am not very optimistic that either of these will  
occur or be successful.
 
Bob Mumford
Darnestown