Notes
In response to the article, TSMV says human use concerning, I feel compelled to comment on my observations as my house backs onto the Eagle Terrace/Eagle Heights wildlife corridor.
The area has reasonably good signage identifying it as a wildlife corridor, but that doesn’t seem to stop anyone. At one point a bicycle jump was even built next to the largest wildlife information kiosk near Silvertip.
Over the last 10 years I have seen the area become braided with a multitude of “illegal” trails by all variety of users. I would estimate that well over 50 per cent of the dogs walked there are off leash.
I very often see deer and elk running from dogs and hear their owners calling anxiously. I have also been accosted by off leash dogs numerous times accompanied by shouts of “don’t worry he/she’s friendly. A few folk even use the area as an off leash park for playing fetch.
Around the time of the cougar attacks on dogs, I would politely ask off leash dog owners if they were aware of the situation for their safety. I soon gave up because all answered to the affirmative. Many said it was awful, but none leashed their dogs.
I have also seen people cutting down trees for Christmas, people harvesting firewood, and most recently a quad running back and forth in the corridor. To top it off, a week ago I saw two people in the corridor practicing archery toward the residences while drinking beer.
I do shake my head at all this and wonder at the protests against the TSMV developers in the interest of wildlife movement, yet when a proposition was made to keep humans out via fencing, there was a public outcry.
As the Pogo quote goes: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
