PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 17, 2024
Now that the dog walkers have moved to the woods behind Evergreen Cemetery because of the leash law, we are experiencing a wave of vandals in Baxter Woods. Graffiti on a beautiful log, firecrackers, graffiti on a bridge and live trees – including a swastika. The reason this is occurring is that the people who love and use the park are being shut out by a nonsensical rule. Why would a 29-acre urban wood, surrounded by 11 other city parks that allow unleashed dogs in the most forested state in the union, need to restrict dogs? Allegedly, it is to protect birds, but that really doesn’t make sense. ~ John Schaberg, Portland