As a non resident I am not at the town meeting but this subject strikes a chord with me as a longtime (20 year) user and upkeeper of the Weston Trail System. I was a former local tour guide that took clients on cross country ski tours in Weston and Lincoln in the winter. We used to also ride mountain bikes on the trails of both towns before that became the hot topic. Now, dogwalking and professional dog walkers are the new targets. Those critical of town trail use for dog walking use verbiage like "running wild" as if the dogs were wolves.

I feel that most users during the day time are those walking a few dogs either professionally or for recreation and should either be skilled enough and equipped enough to handle whatever number of animals that they are taking into the woods. Control of such behavior is completely wasteful to the town who would have to divert funds from other areas to enforce an issue that creates virtually no impact on the trail system.

Many walkers in Weston who are doing it for a job are walking Weston resident's dogs; imagine the hypocracy if they were forced to take resident's dogs out of town.

Finally the signs at Cat Rock park state that more than three dogs cannot be off leash. No where in the town bylaws (article 20, Dog Regulations) is this mentioned. It is mentioned in the Weston Conservation Commission's bylaws.

Recently a Weston resident on Doublet Hill Rd. attempted to bar me from walking on town trails,stating that it was private property. I have maintained that area's trails and used them since 1989, far before he moved to that road. It's a sad, deplorable sense of entitlement that is especially transparent when coming from those who never actually use the trails themselves.