Summary of May 1 Meeting

[Michele Biscoe]

Dear Fells Dog Owners,

Alison, Bill, Charlene, Cori, David, Kathleen, and I met on Tuesday evening, May 1, at the Botume House in the Middlesex Fells Reservation.

After learning about everyone's dogs and the things we do together with our dogs, we worked in small groups to come up with some ideas going forward to make the Fells more welcoming to us and people like us.

I am very excited about the options that our groups came up with for going forward--and that they are just the tip of the iceberg:

• Increasing FellsDOG's visibility
• Using the bulletin boards at the Fells to promote the group and responsible dog ownership
• Connecting with state legislators/Lobbying
• Reaching out to the DCR to help us promote responsible dog owner behaviors (instead of just harassing and intimidating people with dogs)
• Considering designated hours/designated trails

We are now working on organizing the following upcoming events:

• Dog Play Workshop - June, to be confirmed (I attach a flyer for the workshop that the Somerville Dog Owners Group is doing with Magical Mutt in May).
• Coyotes with John Maguranis, Belmont Animal Control Officer - July, to be confirmed

Bill recommends Elizur Wright's Appeals for the Middlesex Fells and the forests : with a sketch of what he did for both by Ellen Wright:

http://books.google.com/books?id=5TNFAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Bill says "It's essentially the entire history of how the Fells came to be, told by first person accounts, newspaper clippings and poems. There is much in it that we can use as a means to progress our agenda. I truly believe after reading it that Elizur et. al. would be members of FellsDog!"

Best,

Michele