What is the Beck Lake Dog Area Group?

Established in July 2000, the Beck Lake Dog Area Group was formed for the purpose of working towards the creation of a designated "pilot" DFA (Dog Friendly Area) in the Beck Lake Forest Preserve at Central Avenue and East River Road, in Glenview.

• This portion of "underused" forest preserve land would allow people a safe, separate area to exercise, socialize and recreate with each other and their dogs, and would not interfere with other area recreational activities.
• Dog Ownership has increased dramatically within the past fifteen years, and is growing steadily.
• People recreating with their dogs has become one of our country's fastest growing recreational activities.
• Dog Owners represent a significant population in Cook County; their recreational and social interests must be recognized and addressed.
• The increase in dog ownership has resulted in competing recreational interests for our limited park resources. DFAs are a proactive way to address a large part of the community interest. They are based on the need for a recreational outlet, and are often the only way some people choose to use our green spaces.

A more complete description of the vision and goals of the Beck Lake Dog Friendly Area Group is described in a letter to the editors of Pioneer Press in December, 2003, in response to a letter they had published.

Now that the dog park has become a reality, the group has new goals:

• We serve as the liason between the dog owners and the Forest Preserve District helping to establish needs, priorities, and solutions.
• We identify and fix some of the smaller problems.
• We work to keep the park open: helping to permit more dogs in the DFA and responding to those questioning the need for the dog park.
• And, finally, we work to make the park better.