Commentary
Walking with my dogs at Norm Schoenthal Island is one of the joys of my life. Currently I am spending several hours a day out there. The joy dogs experience being in such a wonderful, open, stimulating environment is wonderful. My dogs are besides themselves with happiness when they are at Norm's Island. And for me, it relieves and soothes the stresses of the modern world. I feel whole relaxed and a part of nature at Norm's Island.
I have been gathering information about the status of Norm's Island, information that is spread over several years of various meetings of official organizations and city government. I have been thinking a lot about what I have been reading and learning. I would like to make this page be a gathering place for this information.
Walking with my dogs at Norm Schoenthal Island is one of the joys of my life. Currently I am spending several hours a day out there. The joy dogs experience being in such a wonderful, open, stimulating environment is wonderful. My dogs are besides themselves with happiness when they are at Norm's Island. And for me, it relieves and soothes the stresses of the modern world. I feel whole relaxed and a part of nature at Norm's Island.
I have been gathering information about the status of Norm's Island, information that is spread over several years of various meetings of official organizations and city government. I have been thinking a lot about what I have been reading and learning. I would like to make this page be a gathering place for this information.
We all have our thing. I like to walk with my dogs, others ride mountain bikes, some run, some just like to walk on a sunny afternoon. It seem some of us do not like some of the others. Me, I am not fond of bikes on Norms primarily because of a few not very courteous bike rides, plus I think the world we live in is chock full of wheels and devices of all kinds. It is nice to get away from all mechanical technical stuff for a change. Others do not like dogs, and they should not be forced to defend themselves from them to enjoy the wonder of Norm's Island.
People walking their dogs at Norm's Island should be aware of all this. They should be willing to be responsible for their dogs output (poop) and their behavior. If your dog is aggressive it should be leashed. We all should pick up our dogs poop at least when it is near the trail. We should make way for the bikes after they announce themselves. We should be able to control our dogs so we can keep them from jumping or attacking runners.
We all need to be responsible.
I will develop this page on a continual basis, and I welcome ideas and comments.
I will post links to newspaper articles, meeting minutes, what ever I can find pertinent to the subject. I have had to work hard to find information about what is going on at Norm's, and I feel this information needs to be out there for everyone to read.
LINKS
If you are interested in Dog Parks in Billings, Marcia Clausing maintains this Facebook Group. Friends of Billings Dog Parks Marcia has also been holding community meetings on the issue of Dog Parks at neighborhood locations. She is dedicated to this, which is great. Thanks Marcia.
April 4, 2011. After the clean up day, cardboard signs were put up encouraging people to pick up after their dogs. Good idea. Problem is, with the recent high winds those signs were ripped from their posting sticks. They were not vandalized. The sign boards themselves were blown into the bushes and were put back onto the sticks by the only available means. Solution? Don't have clue, other than using more permanent signage. Mike/Diego
ReplyDeleteApril 4, 2011. Ken, perhaps you could encourage more comment posting if people's comments could be seen at the end of each day's posting instead of having to go and track the comments on another outside page. This might invite more "conversation" within the posts when people see what's already been said. See ya on the trail. Mike/Diego
ReplyDelete