Unleashed dogs at Eagle Ranch Golf Course are impacting elk
Bolstering enforcement would help, but it's expensive

Walt Marquez/Special to the Daily
Today’s question is: Is there a leash law at the Eagle Ranch Golf Course? The answer isn’t clear.
Eagle Town Council Member Mikel “Pappy” Kerst says there’s a leash law. Nathan Lehnert, Eagle County field service manager for animal control, isn’t so sure.
The town of Eagle contracts with Eagle County for animal control services. To do that job, Lehnert has had conversations with local police and the town’s attorneys. The answer isn’t clear, Lehnert said.
“Everybody has a different opinion on what the town code says,” Lehnert said. The golf course may have a leash law exemption based on the “common ground” rule. Property governed by that rule — sidewalks, common areas of multi-family properties and the golf course — is exempt from the leash law if an animal’s owner can demonstrate that the animal can be controlled by voice commands.
Well-trained — until …
But, Kerst said, just about everyone says they have a well-trained dog — until it bolts off after something.

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At Eagle Ranch, that often includes elk that winter on the property. Those animals are weakest in the winter due to lack of food. Females are often pregnant, and any excess movement, especially running from a perceived predator, endangers both females and still-unborn calves.
Lehnert, who’s one of three animal control officers for the entire county, said the Eagle Ranch Golf Course is one of a few problem areas for unleashed dogs. But, Lehnert said, Eagle Ranch is the biggest problem area.
“Anecdotally, we hear dogs are off-leash there every day,” Lehnert said. “But the majority of the time it’s not a problem.”
Still, the presence of humans and their pets has affected the number of wintering elk on the course.
Elk “used to be in Eagle Ranch in very large numbers,” Lehnert said. Those animals would bed down on the golf course and stay for days at a time. But, Lehnert added, in the past few years those large numbers have turned into smaller groups of animals scattered throughout town, all the way out to the county’s animal shelter.
“They’re just trying to find calm spaces,” Lehnert said.
Elk herds are the responsibility of Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Department public information officer Rachael Gonzales said wildlife officers can issue citations if they witness examples of dogs harassing wildlife. But those officers are spread thin, so rarely see examples of pets bothering wild animals.
“What we can do is educate,” Gonzales said. “it’s so important during the winter.” Education is sometimes as simple as talking with pet owners about the importance of keeping their animals leashed.
Education sometimes can go a long way, Gonzales noted, adding that it’s ultimately up to community members to help. Preserving wintering elk herds is similar to the department’s “bear aware” campaign about living in those animals’ habitats.
Those efforts are “super essential” to help maintain healthy animal populations, she said.
Not many educators
But education requires teachers. Again, Eagle County has only three field officers for animal control, an enforcement territory that includes both the county and its towns except Avon and Basalt. Avon does contract for animal shelter services. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has one-person districts, and has just three people to handle the three districts in the Eagle River Valley from Vail Pass to Glenwood Canyon and points north.
Kerst said the town of Eagle has one code enforcement officer, but could use “a couple more” for both animal reports and other calls in a town of more than 8,000 people.
Finding funding for two more full-time people is tricky, Kerst said.
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“The problem is where we’ll find the money to fund a lot of projects we need to do,” Kerst said, adding that funding wildlife preservation efforts will require collaboration between town, state, federal and private entities.
In the meantime, “It would sure be nice if the people (cooperated),” in keeping wildlife safe, Kerst said.
Ultimately, though, “We’ve built right in the middle” of historic bedding grounds,” Lehnert said. That means it’s up to people to live with the animals.