Guard dogs continue to frighten hikers on high mountain trails

Judy Graham has been hiking in the San Juan Mountains near Silverton for more than three decades. But recently the 68-year-old has added something to the hiking sticks, water bottle, rain jacket and sketching supplies she always takes along — a loaded Glock. Graham is arming herself because she fears the large, white Akbash dogs that guard sheep herds around Silverton and other high-mountain towns, particularly along the popular Colorado and Continental Divide trails. The aggressive dogs have continued to be a controversial backcountry problem in spite of efforts to lessen encounters between the dogs and recreationists. "I have been hiking these mountains for a long time, but I won't go out anymore without a gun," said Graham, a painter who spends a lot of time in the backcountry to catalog scenes for her art. Matt Janowiak, district ranger for the Columbine District of the San Juan National Forest, said he wishes more of those complaints would make it to his office so he can do something about the problem. His office has received only one in the past two years. He said contracts with ranchers who have grazing permits now specify that the herds need to be at least a quarter-mile from the Colorado and Continental Divide trails. If animals are closer, the U.S. Forest Service can take away ranchers' permits. The problems with the Akbash first came to public attention in 2009 when a woman was bitten while riding her bike near Vail...more