BOISE – A group of concerned dog owners is asking for everyone's help to keep the foothills an open and inviting place for everyone to recreate.

Responsible dog owners are organizing to coordinate an education effort.

This comes a week after the Foothills Advisory Committee decided to hold off on requiring leashes on all foothills trails.

Some say dogs are running free on trails they aren't supposed to - tearing them up and littering the trails with dog poop.

Now dog owners want to educate each other before they all lose out.

"There are a lot of dog owners who care passionately about the issues and I think if we had an organized group we could head things off before they get quite as far as they did this time," said Marianne Konvalinka, group organizer.

Konvalinka says everyone has a right to the space and they need to work together to preserve it for future enjoyment.

She hopes the group can educate their fellow dog owners reminding them to leash and pick up. She’d also like the group to act as a liaison between dog owners and the city in the future.

A meeting will be held tonight from 7-9 p.m. at the Foothills Learning Center to plan a poop/scoop trails education day and to develop an action plan to help the focus on enforcement of current rules and education succeed.