Ocean Beach DOG: Racist, Property Rights Dogma

Ocean Beach DOG is the leading anti-environmental voice in San Francisco, and they should not be trusted. They espouse the racist, property-rights agenda of the Pacific Legal Foundation, and one look at their website shows this to be the case. They promote the dismantling of the Endangered Species Act and turning over our parks to the BLM and the Forest Service for "multiple use," key tactics and goals of the PLF's racist property-rights agenda. Anyone who has seen the clearcuts in National Forests or ORV ruts in BLM lands knows why Ocean Beach DOG's views have been rejected by progressive organizations around the country.

The people behind Ocean Beach DOG are known thugs. They tried to physically intimidate the progressive mayor of Pacifica, and recall the progressive majority of Pacifica's board mere months after they were elected. See the link for the Chronicle article exposing their tactics. The recall effort failed, and they blamed a conspiracy with the U.S. Postal Service.

Ocean Beach DOG's extremist views have also ostracized Ocean Beach DOG from the broader animal welfare community. They were kicked off Pacifica's Animal Advisory Commission because of their extreme tactics and views. See attached file. Responsible animal welfare groups such as Action for Animals, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and dozens of others want to stop the death of dogs in our parks, but groups like Ocean Beach DOG—a group that views dogs as toys to be played with and replaced when they break—promote the continued death and injury of dogs. Its time for people to know that Ocean Beach DOG represents an antiquated view of our relationship with animals, one that is being replaced as our own species evolves.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/11/17/BAG9933IAR1.DTL

Ocean Beach DOG's email pitch, circa de Aug. 24, 2005

Emergency Petition to bar Off-leash Recreation in the GGNRA

As you may already know from the news media, the Center for Biologic Diversity, with Brent Plater as their chief spokesperson, has filed a petition with the National Park Service requesting action within 60 days to ban off-leash recreation in all the GGNRA. The legitimacy of off-leash recreation in the GGNRA as described in the 1979 Pet Policy was affirmed by Magistrate La Porte last fall, and re-affirmed by Judge Alsup more recently when the GGNRA lost their appeal. Despite the government attorney's denying that an "emergency" existed at the time of the appeal, those organizations who signed on to an amicus brief authored by Brent Plater of the Center for Biologic Diversity, have signed a petition again authored by Brent Plater of the CBD.

You have an opportunity to let the various officials of the National Park Service know how outraged you are with this petition, and the obvious intent of these groups to torpedo the upcoming Negotiated Rulemaking. The Ocean Beach Dog group has on their website all the information you need to provide a response. They even have a template to make it easier for you to submit your comment directly to the officials concerned.

The website: http://oceanbeachdog.home.mindspring.com/id8.html

Time is of the essence. Send your comments as soon as possible.

Ocean Beach DOG's "Legal" page

LEGAL ISSUES AT OCEAN BEACH AND THE GGNRA

Ocean Beach DOG is not confident we will prevail in our quest for the reinstatement of off-leash recreation at Ocean Beach merely through negotiation. If the GGNRA wanted us to have off-leash recreation, no one forced them to change the 1979 Pet Policy. The excuse that the National Park Service by Regulation does not allow dogs off-leash in other units of the National Parks is a sham. The National Park Service conveniently overlooked the fact that they have made exceptions to that rule in other areas such as the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. At that (and other) locations, an exception is made to allow dogs off-leash for the purpose of hunting small game. The GGNRA decision was willful, and clearly their memos indicate they will allow off-leash recreation only where they believe they will have to. Additionally, it is not clear how long the GGNRA intends to draw out this process of rulemaking, and since they are enforcing the requirement for leashes everywhere in the interim, there is certainly no incentive for the GGNRA to fast track the process.

There are, however, multiple legal issues which influence recreational usage at Ocean Beach. ALL have the ability to fundamentally change the circumstances of recreational usage at Ocean Beach, (and some other portions of the GGNRA) so all of these matters are important. There is the matter of the relationship between San Francisco itself and the GGNRA. The Ocean Beach property was given to the GGNRA with the promise to maintain recreation as it existed at the time. This was appropriately reflected in the original 1979 Pet Policy. Now that the GGNRA has "changed their mind" does the City of San Francisco have any recourse? We believe they do. The previous Board of Supervisors voted to ask the City Attorney to contemplate litigation against the GGNRA in order to recover ownership of these properties. Additionally, the GGNRA’s closure of areas to off-leash recreation has put a tremendous burden on the City’s other parks. We encourage dog owners to consistently remind city officials of this when commenting upon off-leash usage anywhere in the city.

Secondly, the rangers have been ticketing with increased regularity, and there have been two incidences of people being handcuffed by rangers, and removed in custody from Crissy Field in late April. The dogs with these two individuals were impounded by Animal Care and Control. There is at this time, a dispute in Federal Court as to whether the GGNRA has jurisdiction to ticket us in the wet sand of the beach. From a legal standpoint, we believe the GGNRA does NOT have jurisdiction on the beach from the high tide line all the way down and into the water (the wet sand of the beach). We have included here the actual legal argument being waged by one of our attorney-members against the GGNRA/NPS as part of a Federal Court action. Click here to view the actual document. This is good information for you to have should you be hassled or ticketed by a ranger on any of the sandy beaches in the GGNRA (Ocean Beach, Fort Funston or Crissy Field). The situation in the GGNRA is becoming increasingly hostile, and we will continue to be bullied should we just ignore it. We are aware many of you have declined to become involved as you have not personally been ticketed. However, once this rulemaking process is over, we believe the GGNRA will feel they have the legal and moral basis to enforce the restrictions diligently. These incidents at Crissy Field should give us all some idea as to the GGNRA’s desire and concept of stringent leash law enforcement.

Another huge issue to affect Ocean Beach, as well as possibly Crissy Field, is that of the snowy plover. Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is now assisting entities up and down the coast of California and Oregon in an effort to delist the snowy plover from the endangered species list. PLF’s assertion is that scientific research shows the snowy plover here is identical genetically to a plover found in Utah, which is found in huge numbers. In effect, their population is far larger than reported—and not in danger of disappearing. Should the plover be taken off the endangered species listing, there is NO reason Ocean Beach cannot be off-leash in its entirety. Additionally, because of the litigation regarding the snowy plover, Pacific Legal Foundation was allowed to bring in an independent firm to audit the Endangered Species Act costs and benefits. It was discovered we are spending 4-5 times as much on this Act than reported by government officials, and the success rate is .01%. On Wednesday, April 28, 2004, a congressional committee is initiating a study and review of the Endangered Species Act with intent to change it. Member attorneys are following all of these actions. Let us know if you want to assist in the lobbying of Congressional officials.

Special thanks are extended to the member attorneys who are spending considerable time and resources to find a way to right this wrong which public controversy has failed to rectify over an 8 year period. Many of you are tired of the fight, and wonder if just "laying low" would perhaps keep the rangers at bay. These attorneys, who continue this fight in the legal sector, inform us that the GGNRA is willing to expend a great deal of time and resources to ban off-leash in as much of the GGNRA as possible. We ask only that the general membership of this group be willing to back these people up if and when the situation presents itself that public outcry is required to augment the legal battle*. We also ask members if they have any contacts in the media, or experience in public relations, that they assist us in presenting our objectives publicly in the best possible light. We all love the beach and the unique rewards it presents us when recreating with our dogs off-leash. Even though we are much smaller than the monolithic GGNRA/NPS, we are in the right on this issue. We can win this fight if we approach it intelligently and diligently.

Pacific Legal Foundation's home page Quote of the Day, September 14, 2005
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
- Ronald Reagan

Pacific Legal Foundation "About Us" page

Liberty In Crisis!
Conceived in pain over two hundred years ago, America still stands as "the land of freedom." It is still, by far, the greatest country in the world to live in. But there are tarnishes that have formed and need to be removed. Though the great principles of our Founding Fathers remain with us, many of their hard fought protections are eroding due to a form of tyranny engendered by overzealous bureaucracies, government red tape, ignorance or indifference of our courts and elected officials, and a complex maze of laws and regulations that are strangling our personal and professional lives.

Today's government abuses are of a kind and magnitude not confronted by the Founders of this nation. The abuses of the English monarchy, which gave rise to the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, were often sudden and violent. Today in America they are subtle and incremental, yet just as devastating in their effect.

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Until 30 years ago, individual Americans were without an effective voice in the courts to speak out on their behalf against the representatives of centralized control and group-based special interests. Common sense and balance were concepts without a forum, and individual and economic liberties were the unintended victims of that void. The result: increased government intrusion in our lives, regulatory infringements on private property and individual rights and assaults on free enterprise.

On March 5, 1973 government regulators found a foe; mainstream Americans found a friend; freedom in America found new meaning. On that day, Pacific Legal Foundation was established turning the voices that wouldn't be heard into the voices that couldn't be silenced. Since then, PLF has filled the void and has proven itself as a potent representative in the courts for Americans who have grown weary of overregulation by big government, over-indulgence by the courts, and excessive interference in the American way of life.

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Pacific Legal Foundation is America's trusted champion of constitutional rights, fighting and winning decisive actions in the courts of law and the court of public opinion to rescue liberty from the grasp of government power.

Our nation is founded on the ideal of a free and ordered society where liberty is nurtured by the rule of law. Our Constitution enshrines this principle, and our traditions as a free people burden us with a moral obligation to act now to preserve our heritage of freedom for future generations. Through PLF individuals resist what Thomas Jefferson called the natural progress of things: for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

PLF's ferociously dedicated and highly skilled legal team is distinguished for its winning record, its strong strategic sense of direction and its unwavering commitment to the principles of freedom. PLF is renowned for battling those who would tread on individual liberty; for confronting government bureaucrats who confiscate private property rights; for opposing government programs that grant special preferences on the basis of race and sex; and for challenging misguided environmental laws that degrade human values.