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Comment by fyt2024 | Hacker News Reader

fyt2024·

"I go to campsites and wilderness areas where dogs are allowed off leash." In the US?

I move with my golden retriever back to the states. Should someone have a dog friendly place to rent in NJ close to NYC, Hoboken....

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In the US, wilderness area is a specific legal term[1], which have very restrictive rules about what visitors are allowed to do. Very specifically, dogs are _not_ allowed off-leash in wilderness areas, because they can disturb the local wildlife, and the stated goal of wilderness areas is to protect the local wildlife to the highest extent possible.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness#United_States

The laws are more nuanced than you suggest. Here is a government website [1] that mentions dogs and says “Dogs must be under control at all times. Dogs can harass, stress, injure or kill wildlife; annoy fellow hikers and introduce disease. Some wilderness areas require dogs be leashed at all times.”

I have recently been in Mount Baker’s wilderness where dogs off leash away from trailheads are fine and also in Mount Shasta wilderness where pet dogs are not allowed even on leash. There is latitude for local tweaks to the rules in specific wilderness areas across the US. The US also has vast swaths of BLM and other lands where all kinds of fun recreation (hunting, dogs off leash, OHV’s, and all kinds of other things are allowed).

[1] https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/specialplaces/?cid=stel...

In some situations a leash can be dangerous. Eg, a woman died today because her dog was on a leash.

[1] https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/woman-drowns-kings-ri...

Ansel Adams Wilderness allows off leash dogs.

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