Much of the OSMP management debate focuses around the threat that hikers (as well as dogs and horses) may or may not pose to efforts to control the spread of invasive species. It seems to me that there is a simple, joint fact-finding process that we could all go through to clarify this issue.
First, we need a short list of invasive species that are the posing a significant threat to Open Space. Next, we need to identify at least one location where each species is getting out of control. Over the course of a year we would then need a fact-finding team to repeatedly visit each location to determine when seeds are and are not a susceptible to human dispersal. One could also walk through each area with typical types of clothing and then examine how many of the offending seeds each person picks up. This would enable us to identify kinds of clothes that limit the collection of seeds (such as the wearing of ankle gaitors to limit “sock prickers”). We could also determine what kinds of seeds are likely to fall off on a hike and hat kinds are likely to be transported back home where they don’t pose a threat. Similar tests could be done on dogs and horses.
The resulting information could then be used to separate necessary from unnecessary restrictions.
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