We love dogs at the Western New York Land Conservancy! In fact, many of our staff own dogs themselves.  However, domestic dogs have been proven to have a significant impact on natural areas. The obvious reasons include pollution from abandoned waste, and harassment of wildlife from small mammals like squirrels and fishers, to large animals like coyotes, deer, and black bear. This can be a problem, especially during times of the year when animals are especially vulnerable such as winter and breeding seasons.  Dogs have also been shown in scientific studies to significantly impact ground-nesting birds. Oftentimes, what appears to us as harmless sniffing alongside the trail actually causes many species of birds to abandon their nests permanently. 

Fortunately, there is an abundance of parks and other protected areas where you can walk your dog. On the other hand, there are very few places in our region that are sanctuaries for wildlife and plants. Additionally, many funders that helped save Land Conservancy preserves require that we don’t allow dogs. The National Park Service has similar rules to the Land Conservancy on nearly all of their 85-million acres.