January 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 14

of March, April, May and June, " BBC
President Peter Webb wrote. " Our rationale is simple. This is bird breeding
season. Dogs, leashed or unleashed, are
very disruptive to the mating, nesting
and raising of fledglings of avian ground
nesters. In fact, several of the parks listed
are on the Audubon Society's Important
Bird Area (IBA) Program (Assateague,
Pocomoke River, Tuckahoe, Patapsco
Valley). These are sites that meet rigorous criteria for providing essential habitat to one or more species of birds that
are threatened and vulnerable. "
Closing trails and shorelines to dogs
for four months might seem an unusually harsh measure, given the prevalence
of that simple, low-tech device called
the leash. Just enforce leash laws during

e
l
i
f
Pro

the breeding season, goes the pro-dog
argument. But as nearly every openedminded park user knows, having leash
laws and enforcing them are two different matters.
" Even where leash laws are mandated, it is unlikely they will be stringently
enforced, as that requires manpower, "
Webb of the BBC writes. " In parks requiring that dogs be on-leash, Bird
Club members often see dogs running
free. Our attempts to politely ask dog
owners to leash their dogs are by and
large unsuccessful, met with a dirty
look or worse. "
That's a sentiment shared by one
long-time Maryland birder who not
only owns dogs, but raises and shows
them as current vice-president of the

Sue Black

u e B l ac k , the director of parks, recreation and culture for Milwaukee County, is
used to setting goals and achieving them.
However, after an amazing year in 2009 where
Milwaukee County won two awards (the National
Gold Medal Award and the Kudos Award for marketing) and Black herself won two prestigious
honors (the Rose Award and induction into the
American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration), she isn't sure what is left on her todo list to accomplish.
" I set a goal and go get it, " she says. " It keeps
me focused. After winning the Gold Medal in Salt
Lake City, I am really in a reevaluation time. "
Black always operates with an end goal in mind. While attending school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she
changed her major from engineering to recreation resource
management, and set out to become the youngest, and the
first woman state parks director for her home state of Wisconsin. But first, she knew she needed state park experience.
She soon found that in Arizona, where she served as chief
of operations for that state's park system from 1993 to 1997.
After working there, she secured the job of director of state
parks for Wisconsin in 1997, and achieved both of her goals.
Six years ago, she took over in Milwaukee County and set
out to win the Gold Medal. In 2009, it became a reality. " As
a state parks director I had made it to the finals twice, " she
recalls. " Everyone says it was such an honor just to make

Parks & Recreation J A N U A R Y

2010 www.NRPA .ORG

Standard Schnauzer Association of America Inc.
Gail Mackiernan who serves as chair of
Montgomery County [Maryland] Bird
Club and is on the conservation committee of the Maryland Ornithological
Society, considers herself a real " dog
person. " In principle, she believes
greater access for dogs in parks makes
sense. It's the poor enforcement of leash
laws that stops her short of actually supporting such policies.
" There's now an acceptance of leash
laws when walking dogs in public, "
Mackiernan says. " But as soon as they
get inside the boundaries of a park, they
unclick their leashes. They are oblivious
to what they are doing. "
Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.,

Sue Black and her
buddy, Ranger

it to th e f i n a l s ,
but I am not sure
whether they were
telling me that just
because we didn't
win. "
Hoping this was
her year, she se cured private funds
from a donor and was able to pay for seven staff members to
attend NRPA's Congress and Exposition, where they would
hear that they were winners. " Winning was so big, " she says.
" To hear them announce your name with your team by your
side-it is just one of those moments you'll never forget. "
Though Black has accomplished much already in her career, she wants to continue to " make a significant impact
on people's lives. " She is contemplating how and where she
might do that, but for now, she is content to mentor the
younger members of her staff and teach them all she has
learned.
" The only thing better than winning a Gold Medal would
be to watch one of my team members win it with their own
agency one day. Wouldn't that be great? "


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Who, What, Where & how
-Around the Parks

January 2010 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2010 - Parks & Recreation