[pct-l] thru-hiking with dogs.

[waynekraft at verizon.net (Wayne Kraft)]

The folks on this list are generally the most well-informed, helpful and 
gracious on-line group I have ever encountered, but I sense a need for 
education on the topic of Americans With Disabilities Act and Service Dogs. 
This is not a subject upon which the general public seems to have a lot of 
information.  I know it has come as a bit of a surprise to some folks that 
they could not simply tell me to quit my job and go live under a bridge when 
I lost my hearing, so this is a bit personal to me.  I have a Golden 
Retriever who is helpful to me on the trail, but I don't take my dog on long 
distance hikes because he's not suited to the endeavor, not because 
government regulations prohibit it. They clearly do not.  NPS is aware of 
this issue and, if Dave takes a Service Dog in a National Park, he won't be 
harassed by park employees.  Dave will have a lot less trouble, however, if 
he contacts NPS about his plan to thru-hike national parks with his service 
dog before he arrives in the park.  Common sense will prevail.  If his dog 
attacks other park visitors or chases wildlife, he'll be kicked out for 
that, not because he didn't have the right "certficate."

 If you want to know more about this topic I suggest you first read USDOJ's 
Q and A section:

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/animal.htm

The Q & A is designed for private entitities, but the requirements for 
National Parks are the same.

Read this Memorandum of Understanding (I apologize for the quality of the 
cut and paste, but I don't have time to edit the document and some of the 
spaces between words have disappeared) for information on how the NPS is 
implementing the ADA:

September 5, 2002MemorandumTo: Associate Directors, Regional Directors and 
SuperintendentsFrom: Director /s/ Fran P. MainellaSubject: Use of Service 
Animals by Persons with Disabilities in theNational Park SystemThe purpose 
of this memorandum is to provide updated informationregarding the use of 
service animals by persons with disabilities inthe National Park System; to 
inform you of the intent to revise ourcurrent regulations regarding their 
use; and to provide interimguidance on what we as an agency must do in order 
to comply withDepartment of Justice (DOJ) guidelines and regulations and 
Section 504of the Rehabilitation Act. This information will be incorporated 
intoDirector's Order #42 when it is updated.BackgroundService animals for 
persons with disabilities have traditionally beenunderstood to be guide dogs 
for blind individuals and hearingassistance dogs for persons with hearing 
impairments. Because theseanimals provide service for persons with 
disabilities, they are notconsidered to be pets and, consequently, are not 
regulated as pets.Accordingly, they have been allowed to go into areas where 
pets aretraditionally prohibited. National Park Service (NPS) 
regulationscodified at 36 CFR 2.15 currently recognize that "guide dogs for 
theBlind" and "signal dogs for persons with hearing impairments"are exempt 
from other prohibitions on pets.In 1990, with the passage of the Americans 
with Disabilities Act(ADA), DOJ expanded the concept of service animals to 
include thoseproviding a service for individuals with other disabilities. 
Serviceanimals are defined in 28 CFR 36.104 as, "any guide dog, signal 
dog,or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks forthe 
benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but notlimited to, 
guiding individuals with impaired vision, alertingindividuals with impaired 
hearing to intruders or sounds, providingminimal protection or rescue work, 
pulling a wheelchair, or fetchingdropped items." Section 36.302 states that 
entities, "shallmodify policies, practices, or procedures to permit the use 
of aservice animal by an individual with a disability."Section 36.104 also 
defines an individual with a disability as anindividual with a physical or 
mental impairment that substantiallylimits one or more of the major life 
activities of caring for one'sself, performing manual tasks, walking, 
seeing, hearing, speaking,breathing, learning, and working.Over the past 
several months a number of parks have received requestsfrom the public to 
use service animals and the parks have raisedquestions about what types of 
service animals must be allowed. Therehas been some confusion for the parks 
because our current regulationsrecognize only guide dogs for individuals 
with visual impairments andsignal dogs for those with hearing impairments. 
There have also beensome increased concerns voiced regarding the potential 
threat towildlife management with the allowance of service animals into 
areaswhere pets are prohibited.NPS PositionAfter careful review of the 
issues related to the use of serviceanimals in the national parks, and based 
on the advice provided by theSolicitor's Office, we conclude that we are 
legally required bySection 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to allow all types 
of serviceanimals into the parks. The NPS will revise the regulations to 
adopta broader interpretation of what a service animal is, and whereservice 
animals should be allowed. The NPS will use the samedefinition of service 
animal currently found in DOJ regulations (28CFR36.104). Service animals 
will not be considered pets and, ingeneral, when accompanying a person with 
a disability (as defined byFederal law and DOJ regulations), must be allowed 
wherever visitors oremployees are allowed.Due to the concern for wildlife 
management issues, the regulation willallow superintendents to close an area 
to the use of service animalsif it is determined that the service animal 
poses a direct threat tothe health or safety of people or wildlife. The 
regulation will alsostate that, in determining whether a service animal 
poses a directthreat, the superintendent must make an individualized 
assessmentbased on current scientific knowledge or on the best 
availableobjective evidence to ascertain the nature, duration and severity 
ofthe risk and the probability that the potential threat will actuallyoccur; 
and provide an explanation why less restrictive measures willnot suffice. We 
expect to have the proposed rule published in theFederal Register for public 
review and comment by fall of this year.Interim GuidanceBecause it will take 
some time for the new regulation to become final,we are using this 
memorandum to provide guidance on what we need to doimmediately in order to 
comply with the ADA, DOJ guidelines andregulations, and Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act.We have been advised by legal counsel that Congress has 
stated thattheir intent is that the coverage of the ADA, (which covers State 
andlocal governments and private entities) and Section 504 (which 
coversFederal agencies) should be essentially the same. The 
Department'sregulations implementing and interpreting Section 504 are found 
at 43CRF 17. Consequently, our current regulation (36 CFR 2.15), 
whichrecognizes only guide dogs for the blind and signal dogs for thehearing 
impaired, is unenforceable against persons with disabilitieswho rely upon 
service animals for other purposes. Therefore, all parkunits must 
immediately expand the definition of service animals to beconsistent with 
the DOJ definition and allow all service animalsaccompanying persons with 
disabilities the same privileges currentlyprovided to guide dogs and hearing 
assistance dogs.Some park staff have raised questions regarding how they can 
beassured that the individual with a service animal is a qualifiedperson 
with a disability and that the animal is indeed providing aservice because 
of that disability. According to DOJ guidance, inmost instances we cannot 
require individuals to show proof ofdisability nor to show official 
certification for their serviceanimal. Some, but not all, service animals 
wear special collars andharnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or 
certified and haveidentification papers. If you are not certain that an 
animal is aservice animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it 
is aservice animal required because of a disability. However, anindividual 
with a disability is not likely to be carryingdocumentation of his or her 
medical condition or disability, and suchdocumentation may not be required 
as a condition for allowing them inthe park. DOJ has also stated that, 
although a number of States haveprograms to certify service animals, you may 
not insist on proof ofState certification before permitting the service 
animal to accompanythe person with a disability.In some very limited 
situations the NPS may require additionalprocedures to verify that the 
animal is providing a service for aqualified person with a disability. The 
NPS already utilizes aprocedure to determine if an individual is a qualified 
individual witha disability for purposes of receiving a Golden Access 
Passport. Thatprocedure requires either written documentation of a 
disability or thesigning of a statement attesting to having a disability as 
defined byFederal law. A similar procedure could be utilized with regard 
toservice animals in cases where a superintendent believes it 
isnecessary.According to DOJ guidance, and as discussed above, a 
superintendentmay close an area to all service animals upon an 
individualizedassessment and a written determination that allowance of any 
domesticanimal would pose a direct threat to the health and safety of 
peopleor wildlife. This determination must also follow the requirements of36 
CFR 1.5/1.7. However, the legal burden is on the superintendentto justify 
closing an area of the park to service animals accompanyingpersons with 
disabilities.We ask each superintendent to ensure that all staff that 
interact withthe public, including our concessions staff, be informed of 
thisdecision and take whatever steps are necessary to implement thisaction 
as quickly as possible. If you have any questions regardingthis issue, you 
may contact David Park, Accessibility ProgramCoordinator at 202/513-7027, or 
Kym Hall, Regulations Program Managerat 202/208-4206. [end of memo]

I assume the NPS has adopted regulations consistent with this memo,but I 
don't have time to look them up right now.

Finally, here's a book on this very subject:

Dog Packing in National Parks -- How a Pack Dog Became a Service Dog by Jane 
Cox

Hope this clarifies things.  I am as averse to trolls as the next guy, but I 
can tell you from personal experience that dealing with a serious disability 
is no fun and makes some people bitter and crabby.  We can respond to those 
folks with rancor, thus making them even more bitter and crabby, or we can 
try to cut them some slack.  Nearly everyone responds positively to 
kindness.

Wayne Kraft