SALT LAKE CITY — If there's a heaven on earth for dogs, Sam, the golden retriever, may have found it on a recent Friday morning.
Knee-deep in the creek at the Parleys Historic Nature Park, face covered with mud and tongue lolling, the 3-year-old companion of county resident Becky Schumacher, had a look of bliss about him and, if it's possible, a smile on his face.
Schumacher said she's been exercising Sam at the park, located at the north edge of Millcreek's Canyon Rim neighborhood, since he was a puppy. She said the 63-acre city-owned tract is a "blessing."
"We live in an apartment that has virtually no lawn at all," Schumacher said. "We're here almost every day. ... If Sam doesn't get a good run in, he goes crazy."
The park is one of the biggest municipally operated off-leash areas in the Salt Lake Valley, attracting an average of 1,000 visitors a day.
Sweeping changes may be in store for the land, though. There may soon be new limitations on access to Parleys Creek, which runs the length of the property (roughly paralleling I-80 at the mouth of Parleys Canyon). Off-leash activities near the creek may also be restricted, with access relegated to 10 acres of land in two areas on the east and west sides.
After years of use and little maintenance, the area is noticeably run down, with creek banks stripped of vegetation, garbage accumulation and, according to a just-completed $100,000 study of the park, sensitive habitat in danger of permanent damage.
Sharen Hauri, the consultant who conducted the survey, told the city council Tuesday that the park is in critical need of protections.
"The current resources in the park are unsustainable ... and slowly going downhill," Hauri said. "We have to change the way it's managed to make it sustainable."
While Hauri presented a variety of proposed management options for the park, the version being backed by Mayor Ralph Becker's office is extensive and provides for a preserved natural area, protections for the riparian corridor, the two designated off-leash areas and continued accommodation of other activities at the park, such as hiking and BMX riding.
Some council members felt Hauri's proposal goes beyond what the board was looking for when they approved the study and hired her in 2008.
"I don't think the council charged the administration with transformation of the park," said Councilman Luke Garrott. "It seems like the plan has gone much further than we intended to take it."
The issue has divided resident dog owners and those with preservation concerns.
The city's designation of the area as off-leash in 2007 was motivated in part by the work of citizen groups — some of whom are crying foul in response to the Becker-backed revamp. A Millcreek F.I.D.O.S. (Friends Interested in Dogs and Open Spaces) website posting characterizes the plan as undermining the 2007 council decision and tells residents it "will severally impact your ability to use and enjoy this park with your dog."
Other voices in the discussion are those of the former owners of the park property.
The creation of the park was an idea that first surfaced in 1976, when Salt Lake government was headed by Mayor Ted Wilson. Four main owners either donated property or completed land exchanges with the city to create a protected nature preserve. In a September 2009 letter, Wilson shared the outrage of those owners over how things have progressed since the park's 1986 dedication.
"Recent communications from these families indicate their disgust at learning their land has gone to the dogs," Wilson wrote. "These families speak of how wrong the city is to allow this very unique nature park to be destroyed by off-leash use."
While city officials grapple with solutions to maintaining the park, funding that maintenance and finding common ground among the disparate views, Schumacher said she will work, at her own level, to make things better.
"I think if we all, all the dog owners, just take responsibility when we come here, things could be better," Schumacher said.
And Sam wagged his tail to that.
e-mail: araymond@desnews.com