Environment DEC
From the December 2007 issue
Workshops Held on Resolving Canada Geese Conflicts in the Hudson Valley
More than 80 land managers, landowners and municipal officials in the Hudson Estuary came together in two workshops on resident Canada geese management on November 15 and 16. Participants in the two workshops, at Bear Mountain State Park and at Norrie Point Environmental Center in Staatsburg, represented college campuses, school districts, municipal and state parks, golf courses, lake associations, land preserves, agriculture and private businesses. Information was provided on goose biology, control methods, aversion techniques, community-based strategies and regulations. Case histories illustrated various management techniques.
Survey Helps Design Workshops
Nuisance geese can cause health problems at swimming locations
Emilie Hauser, Estuary Training Program Coordinator at the DEC's Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, said " The Estuary Training Program provides training activities for land managers in the Hudson Estuary watershed. Based on feedback from previous training sessions, we knew that land managers wanted information on nuisance geese management. Registrants were surveyed beforehand, so we knew their knowledge level and that they wanted information on egg treatment, hazing techniques including dogs, humane methods of management and health issues at swimming beaches."
Speakers included Bryan Swift of the DEC Game Bird Unit and representatives from the USDA Wildlife Services, based in Castleton, and GeesePeace. GeesePeace is a non-profit organization from Virginia dedicated to innovative, effective and humane solutions to wildlife conflicts. The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation was also a primary collaborator and participant in the workshops. Parks' goal is to make all of their 65 beaches "geese free."
Cooperative, Community-wide Solutions
Bryan Swift said, "These workshops were offered because local officials and property owners throughout the Hudson Valley have asked for help with the overabundance of resident Canada geese. We felt that workshops were a good way to share information on the most effective techniques to alleviate goose problems. We also wanted to bring people together to promote cooperative, community-wide solutions, where local government and property owners provide leadership and pool their resources to reduce goose population and provide relief for the most sensitive areas. In the long-run, this will be more effective than simply treating each problem site on a case-by-case basis."
The public meeting drew an interested crowd, including a working goose dog
Participants appreciated the expert presentations, actual examples and handouts. They learned a variety of things, like the difference between addling and oiling eggs, new regulations and registration requirements, the many different geese management techniques and which ones work best in different areas. One DEC wildlife expert said, "I deal with wildlife situations everyday, but it was nice to see how others feel about different management practices."
Reacting to the workshops, one very appreciative school district employee said, "Thank you. This presentation is timely and appropriate to help our school community in our time of need." Others in attendance remarked: "It was very helpful learning all the things that do and do not work...I am happy to find out that there is light at the end of the tunnel where getting rid of geese is concerned...A lot of key information was presented and confirmed by many presenters. It was good to hear the same information from a few sources."
More Information
The Nuisance Canada Geese web page on DEC's website includes fact sheets and information on permits and registration to control geese. For information on obtaining state permits to manage nuisance geese, call DEC's Special Licenses Unit at 518-402-8985. For information on obtaining geese control permits from the federal government, call the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 413-253-8642. You can also call the USDA New York Wildlife Services Director at 518-477-4837 for help with wildlife management. Also, see Related Links below for more informative web links on the subject.
Related Links:
GeesePeace (leaving DEC's site)
USDA-Wildlife Damage; includes "2007 Managing Wildlife Damage Informational Notebook" (leaving DEC's site)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Resident Canada Goose Registration; register to take nests or eggs (leaving DEC's site)
