Understanding the Preserve’s new dog policies
- Tate Bushell
- Feb 28
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 20
You may have heard that the Preserve is implementing a new set of dog policies starting May 1, 2025. Click here for the full details. Recognizing the importance of this issue to our community, we will be hosting a webinar on April 9th to discuss the decision-making process and the rationale behind the changes. Below, I share some key insights from our work.
Why a New Policy?
Since I became Director of Natural Lands in 2018, I have witnessed numerous negative interactions between dogs and visitors, including bites to both staff and guests. I routinely receive emails reporting similar concerns. As a former dog owner and frequent walker at Little Long Pond, I understand the unique appeal of the Preserve's off-leash policy. However, in recent years, concerns have grown among the board and staff that the volume of off-leash dogs may be affecting the Preserve’s ability to fulfill its mission – to conserve and share the beauty of our historic lands and gardens.
To assess the situation, I led a systematic study of the Preserve’s dog policy—its history, impact, and alignment with our mission. In fall 2023, I assembled a task force of eight members, including natural lands staff, Preserve Board Directors, a Maine Coast Heritage Trust representative, and long-time community members. Importantly, all task force members were dog owners and familiar with Little Long Pond. Our goal was not to change the policy outright but to evaluate its effectiveness based on comprehensive research. Recommendations resulting from our formal process were not predetermined; in fact, I made it clear that we would have served our purpose if we studied the policy and recommended no change.
Task Force Process
The task force met monthly via Zoom from December 2023 to July 2024. Each meeting was recorded, and we followed a structured approach:
Identifying Key Considerations
We identified 16 considerations in total, some are listed here as examples:
Legal implications of dog-related incidents.
Visitor metrics: total numbers, dog ownership, and seasonal variations.
Visitor demographics: tourists, summer residents, and locals.
Natural resource protection needs.
Scientific research on dogs’ impact on ecosystems.
Analysis of reported dog-related incidents.
Policies of similar organizations and landowners.
The Maine Coast Heritage Trust-held conservation easement’s legal influence on dog management.
Gathering and Analyzing Information: Each member researched assigned considerations, with findings compiled into written records and supported by citations. The Preserve has many years’ worth of data regarding visitor metrics and demographics, as well as a comprehensive plant study. Unverified information—anecdotes, opinions, or speculation—was excluded.
Weighing Considerations Based on Mission Relevance: Each factor was assigned a weight from 0 to 5, reflecting its importance to the Preserve’s mission. Notably, the conservation easement was determined to have no direct influence on dog policy and was assigned a weight of 0.
Drafting Policy Options: Task force members independently created policy recommendations grounded in the research. Again, throughout this process task force members were reminded that the policy did not necessarily need to change.
Refining and Reaching Consensus: Through discussion, drafts were revised, common themes emerged, and a consensus was formed. To finalize details such as peak-season restrictions, visitor data was analyzed to determine high-traffic times.
The Policy Changes
After thorough evaluation, the task force recommended three key changes corresponding to three distinct locations: 1) Little Long Pond natural lands, 2) Harbor Brook Trail, and 3) Hunters Cliffs natural lands. For Little Long Pond, the primary concern was the impact of high off-leash dog traffic on visitor experience. As a compromise, off-leash dogs will still be welcome, except during peak hours in peak months, they must be leashed. This policy aims to enhance the experience for visitors who prefer not to interact with off-leash dogs.
While many dogs are well-behaved, it is common for them to approach, jump on, or otherwise engage with people. While dog owners may find this harmless, many Little Long Pond visitors are uncomfortable with such encounters and the Preserve chooses to prioritize their basic safety and experience.
For the Harbor Brook Trail, the primary concern is the protection of uncommon plants and animals in the Preserve’s least developed area. As a conservative measure aimed at safeguarding plant and animal populations, no dogs are allowed on Harbor Brook Trail at any time of the year. Our plant survey has shown that a few plant species are found hardly anywhere else on our natural lands, an additional species has been recorded nowhere else in the Hancock County, and yet another species is quite rare at the state level.
In addition to uncommon plant occurrences, we detected an American marten on a game camera which is far rarer than its larger cousin, the fisher. These observations confirmed what we suspected: that the lack of development along the Harbor Brook trail and in the watershed makes this a special place, even among the Preserve’s natural lands. The decision we made was a conservative one, but one that we feel is justified given our findings. In land management and natural resource protection, it is always better to protect something before it is degraded vs. trying to restore something after it has been lost. We have seen that dog activity along the Harbor Brook trail has resulted in bank erosion, which is the unfortunate reality of enjoying nature with dogs off leash. We felt that allowing dogs to be walked on a leash was not doing enough to protect the brook and its banks because dogs can still roam widely on a leash and because people would be too tempted to unleash their dogs.
For the Hunters Cliffs natural lands, we decided that dogs should always be leashed primarily because much of the trail runs over bedrock and very shallow soil that supports small, specialized plants that are easily destroyed by foot traffic. Dogs are not particularly good at following rock cairns and so they are prone to running back and forth over the bedrock, expanding their impact on the landscape. Also, because Hunters Cliffs natural lands are adjacent to Acadia National Park, and many visitors hike from one to the other, we felt that having a consistent leash policy was wise.
Your help
We have received many emails of support for our new dog policies, and I expect that the policies will lead to a more enjoyable experience for our visitors. I thank you for your understanding and support as the policies go into effect on May 1. New signs will be posted around the natural lands to remind visitors of policy details. Please join the conversation at the April 9 webinar. Click below to register.
By Tate Bushell, Director of Natural Lands
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