04-05-2002, 08:45 PM
<br><br>By Tom Kenworthy, USA TODAY<br>DENVER — Golfers and suburban park lovers, take heart: The government is addressing your goose problem.<br>Faced with a population explosion among non-migratory Canada geese, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to give state wildlife agencies broad authority to reduce flocks that nest and live in the lower 48 states year-round. That means it would be easier for states and local communities to destroy eggs and nests, trap and kill birds or expand hunting.<br>The goal is to cut by about 25% the approximately 2.7 million geese that nest in the lower 48 states. That would alleviate some of the aesthetic, health and safety problems caused by birds that have adapted to suburban golf courses, subdivisions, office parks and airports.<br>In some areas, goose populations are growing at 14% a year. Without controls, the national total could more than double in the next decade.<br>"States are really wanting to have more say in how they manage geese," says Tina Chouinard, a Virginia biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service's migratory bird program.<br>By nature, Canada geese split their time between the USA and its northern neighbor, migrating south in winter and returning to Canada each summer to breed and nest. But in the past few decades, the number of geese staying in the USA all year has soared as landscaping techniques have created inviting habitat: well-groomed parks, golf courses and office campuses interspersed with lakes. Fewer predators, hunting restrictions, a high reproduction rate and their tolerance for humans have allowed them to thrive.<br>With millions of birds, each producing a pound or more of dung per day and aggressively protecting their nests, the inevitable result has been increasing conflict with their wingless suburban neighbors.<br>Tom Woodard, director of golf for the city of Denver, which manages seven public courses, says his staff controls geese through a variety of harassment techniques, including whistles, repellent and dogs.<br>But especially during the winter and early spring, geese can be a "huge" hassle, he says. "For one, they eat the grass," Woodard says. "And they crap all over the place. We have to clean it up because golfers don't want to walk all over it."<br>Like their migratory cousins, resident Canada geese are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Without a special federal permit, they cannot be killed except under established hunting rules that set seasons and bag limits.<br>Currently, states and communities that want to reduce geese populations must navigate a cumbersome permit process with the Fish and Wildlife Service. From 1995 to 2000, the federal agency issued about 5,200 such permits. Some communities donate the meat from geese to food banks.<br>Under the proposed plan, which could become effective later this year, states could begin control programs on their own. Approved methods might include destruction of nests and eggs, expanded hunting seasons and the trapping and destruction of geese.<br>Animal rights activists are unhappy. "They are attempting to get permits to just go out and kill birds," says John Hadidian, director of urban wildlife for the Humane Society of the United States. "We think that's the wrong way to go."<br>Hadidian says that animal protection groups have developed successful programs that combine harassment methods — the use of border collies, for example — with the destruction of eggs by coating them with corn oil. The oil prevents the passage of oxygen through eggshells, killing developing embryos. The Fish and Wildlife proposal, he says, should put more emphasis on research and educating communities about humane ways of controlling geese.<br>Goose detractors and fans are expected to square off on the proposal at public hearings across the country.<br>In Washington state, for example, projects to kill geese have prompted protests by animal rights activists. Wildlife officers have had to corral birds at night and use police escorts to get past the activists.<br><br><br><A HREF="http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/MESS6438/" target="_new">http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/MESS6438/</A> <br>Lookie See what the kids are up to.<br>Dave T. Clown
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