So this past week my husband and I went to northern CA for our 30th anniversary. We stayed in the Sonoma/Napa area and there are some state parks there we wanted to walk through - Armstrong Redwoods, for one. At California State parks you are allowed to take your dog in, but the dogs are only allowed on the roads - no dogs on the trails. But you can take a horse in there and ride the trails.

I was curious why a big horse could run the trails, but not a dog. Couldn't be the poop issue! So I decided to ask the park ranger on our way out. Here's her explanation: "There are 2 reasons. The first one is that there are critters that live in our parks. They don't need to be stressed everyday by having to deal with predators in their midst. We all know that dogs are predators, and the critters know the difference between a dog and a horse because of the contents of their feces - after all, have you ever found blood or animal pelts in a horse's poop? And second, we don't need pit bulls attacking our 2 year old trail users, do we?"

Just wondering what you guys thought of those reasons, especially the first one.

The second reason is just stupid, IMHO, though allowing dogs on the trails does introduce the possibility of dog-bite liability issues.

I totally get the first reason though. If they open up trails to dogs, you just KNOW that lots of folks are going to have their dogs off leash, and there is a real possibility of those dogs harassing and even killing wildlife.

Horses are pretty innocuous from a 'wildlife' perspective. Dogs, not so much.

Could be reasonable imho.

The second very questionable if all things are equal enre to handler care and attention.

Well, how many people do you know of or run into in state and national parks who don't think the leash requirements apply to them and their dogs? Many. How much voice control do they tend to have over their dogs? Not much, in my experience. And, dogs will chase wildlife, if given the chance.

So, I guess I can understand the reasoning that they don't want dogs chasing after the wildlife on their trails.

I don't know about the poop part of it . Most pets are fed kibble, anyway, so it's not like the wildlife would smell all the bones and blood and such. But, regardless of diet, I'd guess horse and dog poop smell very different to animals (heck, they smell different to me ).

It is a drag, tho, to go to such a nice place and not be able to hike with your dog. I've gone to places where I didn't know dogs weren't allowed on the trails, and just left, cussing to myself, of course.

leih

Reality is they shouldn't allow either. Biosecurity in national parks and state parks is of serious concern to me for the wildlife and the animals visiting. It disgusts me that ranchers are allowed to graze animals on park land spreading disease and resistant parasites just as it disgusts me that wild animals have to be destroyed just for wandering outside of the park boundry.

Oh, man. Those rangers have great answers for everything, don't they?
I've actually researched the topic of wildlife and dogs for both my thesis and the work I do now. Results vary a bit, but in general, wildlife do not suffer ill effects from dogs, even deer that are chased by dogs for up to 4 miles (if anyone is interested I can provide the references). Also, studies on disturbance effects (ie flight, alert behavior) of wildlife to dogs vs. humans are inconclusive. Some species in some areas react to dogs LESS than to people. Basically there is no evidence that even a badly controlled, wildlife-chasing dog would effect survival and reproduction of MOST species of wildlife found in California. As with anything, there are exceptions.
As to bites from pitbull, what about kicks from horses, or having to deal with trail erosion and poop from them. I've hiked trails with mule trains and extensive horse use (yes, with my dogs). It's not pretty.
The biggest stressors for wildlife in PARKS (habitat loss is first outside of parks) are:
#1. Off (and on) road vehicles including ATVs, snowmobiles and snowcoaches. Direct mortality, habitat avoidance, and behavioral consequences leading to stress all contribute to increased mortality and decreased reproductive success. The associated mechanized noises are also a huge issue.
#2. Human presence and human actions. People are dumb. They sometimes like to put their children near grizzlies for a photo, or harass rutting elk http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/elk.htm, or chase animals down for a picture. VERY stressful. And the saying a fed bear is a dead bear is very true. Also, humans nearly wiped out every large mammal in North America by the early 1900s by hunting, mainly with the modern rifle. Dogs did not.
#3. Park management actions. For years bison and elk were intensely managed in Yellowstone, keeping populations artificially low. This is just one example. Wildlife management is a tricky subject. Long term wildife monitoring, and determining cause-effect of behavioral observations is also extremely difficult.
A dog on a leash, or a voice controlled dog, with an owner who buries or removes the feces (same methods as with human waste in the backcountry) very likely causes significantly less wildife effects than (especially a large group of loud), humans.
Off road vehicles, as I've said, are still allowed in some National Parks, but dogs are banned from all but the roads in most parks.
Yeah, OK, so I got a ticket for running with my dog at Chiricahua. It was far too hot to leave him, and you can't leave dogs unattended anyway. Except for Acadia, I don't visit National Parks anymore. There are some very nice National Forests and state parks (in places other than California) that do allow dogs on trails, and even off leash.
Interesting topic. I just don't like ill-informed assumptions about dogs and wildlife. Such assumptions are not supported by the literature.
I have dogs in large part to enjoy hiking and trail running with them. It's frustrating that some of the most beautiful areas of the country are completely off limits.

Just as a follow up I am NOT defending people who allow their dogs to harass wildlife. After the porcupine incident I realized how important it was to teach my dogs to leave wildife alone on command.
If only people were so easy to train.

We go hiking in the Sierras at Mammoth Mountain mostly every summer. You are allowed to take your dog on any trails there, and most of the dogs are off leash. We've never had a problem at all with being attacked by an aggressive dog - but here in the city where we live it happens a lot. There are a lot of 'critters' in the Sierras too. Just makes you wonder who decides what in this country!

Hey Lori!
Perhaps this is a stupid question?
Just curious, are there any cougars in that area of the Sierras?
I have no idea, never been there.
That and snakes would be my biggest fears.

No cougars. There are bears. We've never seen any snakes.