The Whatcom County Parks Department has solicited a proposal for lethal removal of a resident flock of Canada geese from Silver Lake Park. Although the Parks Department claims that it has made no final determination, it is difficult to see how anything other than extermination will be the outcome.  The Parks Department asserts that it has the administrative authority to make this decision without County Council approval or public process.  The only thing likely to save the geese is community opposition, which has played a pivotal role in other Puget Sound municipalities.

Canada geese are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.  The County lacks authority to kill the geese, but the USDA Wildlife Services provides extermination services for a fee. In fact, the County is already in contracts with Wildlife Services to kill starlings and beavers at the request, and for the benefit of, the agricultural community. 

Wildlife Services will submit its proposal for extermination after it conducts a survey of the geese in late May. The geese and goslings are killed late June when the geese are molting and unable to fly away. The geese will likely be  rounded up into cages, taken to a truck and gassed.

It is well established that lethal removal is not an effective long term solution for population control.  The geese that are killed are soon replaced by a new resident population.  The real problem is not really the geese, which are migratory when necessary. The problem is human alternation of the natural landscape.  When native vegetation is replaced with large lawns, it becomes vacant and prime goose real estate.  The geese are encouraged to loiter and take up permanent residency.

Lethal removal of geese is opposed by the Humane Society and wildlife advocacy organizations, in favor of a long-term multi-technique approach that makes habitat less desirable.  And Wildlife Service’s official policy (which is clearly not being followed) is that  goose roundups should only be used, if at all, after all other available methods have failed, including cessation of any waterfowl feeding, removal of domestic waterfowl, habitat management, harassment, and nesting control.

The Whatcom County Parks Department did not try a single non-lethal control method before focusing on extermination. It did not conduct prior monitoring activities, and therefore, has no documentation of changes in resident geese population, or other means of quantifying a public health risk. The Parks Department notes that the public continues to feed the geese, encouraging a resident population, but it is not clear how much of an effort was made to educate the public, beyond posting a few signs.

I oppose killing the geese at Silver Lake Park for the following reasons:

• Killing resident geese populations is ineffective and therefore, inhumane and a waste of public funds.
• The County should only use non-lethal control methods, which are more effective over the long term. At a minimum, non-lethal management should be required before authorizing a goose roundup.
• Public process and Council oversight are needed before exterminating wildlife, particularly whole flocks or herds, on public land.
• Parks play an increasingly important role in protecting biodiversity as we lose greater amounts of habitat to development.  We must recognize the role of parks is, in part, to protect wildlife and include that understanding in park management policies.
• Landscape management, including lawn size, length and type of grass, and restored areas of native vegetation, particularly along the lake shorelines, is a necessary component of any management plan.
• The County must establish a threat to public health and safety through monitoring and some form of quantifiable data before wildlife populations are exterminated.
• Canada geese management must be viewed as an adaptive process, one that takes time and effort to develop and refine.  There are no quick fixes. 

If you oppose killing geese at Silver Lake, please let the County Council and Parks Department know as soon as possible through an email (council@co.whatcom.wa.us; parks@co.whatcom.wa.us) or a telephone call. Unless the public speaks up, the geese will be exterminated at Silver Lake.  And once this management technique is implemented at one County park, it will likely be used in other County parks.