Parks to emphasize leash rule

Whitman County parks department is now designing signs instructing visitors to keep dogs on leashes. The sign project was launched after parks staffers noticed a growing amount of dogs running loose on Kamiak Butte.

At the county park board meeting May 12, parks director Tim Myers showed members of the board an unused park sign asking visitors to keep dogs leashed. A park board member later e-mailed Myers with another, simpler sample of a similar sign.

Park rangers have noticed more visitors letting their dogs off the leash along the ridge of Kamiak Butte.

“When we hike up the ridge, we’re seeing a lot of dogs off the leash,” Myers later told the Gazette.

Through several discussions at park board meetings, members decided the issue was important enough to warrant the posting of signs.

Myers said the parks department tries not to put up an excessive amount of signs.

“We typically try to put up signs to address a problem, not just for another sign,” Myers said.

Loose dogs can destroy the fragile spring nests of birds like pheasant or quail that nest on the ground. This type of bird lays eggs on the ground and the fledgling chicks run loose on the ground for the first few weeks of life.

“If a dog is just running free and they find a nest on the ground, we want to protect that,” he said.

Deer also keep their young hidden in the underbrush for the first few weeks after they are born. All these species are found on Kamiak Butte and other county parks.

“It’s a wildlife sanctuary,” Myers said, adding there is a strict no-hunting policy in the parks.

Loose dogs can also get in fights with other dogs or scare small children.

Park board members also wanted the signs to include a reminder for people to clean up after their pets. The trailheads of the county parks each include bags for people to use in cleaning up dog waste.

Myers plans to put up two signs each in Kamiak Butte, Wawawaii Park and Klemgard Park.