PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 5, 2020
Members of the Portland City Council voted 8-1 late Monday night to adopt changes to an off-leash dog policy that will require dog owners to keep their dogs on an 8-foot leash at all times between April 1 and July 31 to protect migratory bird nesting sites in Baxter Woods. From Aug. 1 through March 31, the new city policy will allow dog owners to let their pets run unleashed in Baxter Woods between 5-9 a.m. and from 5-10 p.m. But dogs would have to be on an 8-foot leash from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during those months, a restriction the city felt was needed to protect school children, day care populations and other visitors who are uncomfortable around unleashed dogs. Under the plan, the city also agreed to set aside 5.5 acres of Baxter Woods as protected bird habitat to support migratory bird reproduction.