We are petitioning the Forest Preserve to create a new fenced-in dog park in the Thatcher Woods field. This dog park would serve the surrounding communities which do not have a dog park and would provide increased use in the Thatcher Woods Forest Preserve. It could also be added to the existing Forest Preserves dog park membership as an additional park to enjoy.

It would provide additional members for the existing infrastructure and would draw from the River Forest, Maywood, Elmwood Park, Forest Park and Oak Park areas as well as other surrounding communities. Many people in the surrounding communities have work lives that make visiting the other dog parks impractical. Those same people who would otherwise not be purchasing the Forest Preserves Dog Park Membership would now have a more local park to draw them in.
In addition to all of this, it would provide a place for local dog owners to meet up and form community and it would create opportunities for people who would not otherwise visit the Forest Preserve to be in the space and become invested in preserving our natural resources. People who have no idea that the lovely trails in Thatcher Woods exist would now have exposure to them. 

We ask that the Forest Preserve please seriously consider our request to create a new fenced in dog park in the Thatcher Woods field, possibly on the north end of the field so that it is as unobtrusive to the existing use of the pavilion as possible. Thank you for your time.