Scott James/The Bay Citizen

Fort Funston park in San Francisco, a popular destination for dogs and their caretakers to explore the dunes

More than 100 people came out to speak at a San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee hearing at City Hall Monday on a federal proposal to restrict parts of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area where dogs can go without a leash.

The hearing at the board's Land Use and Economic Development Committee was called for by Supervisor Scott Wiener in response to the proposal issued in January by the National Park Service.

The proposal would reduce the size of off-leash areas for dogs at 21 different parts of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, including Ocean Beach, Fort Funston, Crissy Field and Fort Mason.

The recreation area includes parts of San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties.

At the start of Monday's hearing, which was preceded by a large rally held outside City Hall by off-leash proponents, Wiener said he has "serious concerns about the proposal," particularly its possible effect on city parks if the off-leash areas at the national park are reduced.

Wiener said San Francisco got a preview of this last month when a tsunami warning caused the closure of much of the recreation area's coastal areas, and some of the city's parks were overrun with dogs and their owners.

The supervisor invited park service officials to the hearing, and Frank Dean, superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, came to speak in favor of the proposal.

Dean, who said he has a dog named "Ranger," said the park service is only proposing "a balance, not a ban" of off-leash dog areas.

He said, "I don't believe the current situation is tenable," due to visitor conflicts with dogs, and the degradation of park resources from the pets.

Another supporter of the plan, Michael Lynes, conservation director of the Golden Gate Audubon Society, said his organization was worried about "our habitat being treated as disposable goods," and "while dogs in San Francisco have owners who love and care for them, wildlife is under the guardianship of all of us."