The Whatcom County Parks Department did not intend to notify the public that the Canada geese at Silver Lake Park would be exterminated.  Only someone who attended the last Parks and Recreation Committee meeting would know this.  (The minutes from meetings lag behind by months.)  But now that word leaked out, the Parks Department has been receiving public comments and inquiry from at least one Whatcom County Council member.  

The Parks Department quickly drafted a memo to provide information on the Silver Lake goose situation. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4uUR0E44bH3QzRRTUFTcU9EM3M/edit?usp=sharing.  After reading this, I was furious.  It reflected the worst kind of fear-mongering in order to create a false sense of urgency to justify extermination. This indicates a strong need for transparency and greater public oversight of the Parks Department.

According to the Parks Department, “families are concerned about the health and safety of their children and fears of disease transmission and other public health problems from nuisance geese are well documented.”  It notes “health concerns particularly for children and those with compromised immune systems.  Parks staff who must clean areas and mow lawns are also at some risk, despite personal protection gear.”  Moreover, “reducing the flock provides a beachhead to get control of the park.”

How exaggerated are these claims?  The WDFW says the following about the public health risks posed by Canada Geese:

Canada geese are not considered to be a significant source of any infectious disease transmittable to humans or domestic animals, although their droppings are increasingly cited as a cause for concern in controlling water quality in municipal lakes and ponds.

Swimmers itch (schistosome or cercarial dermatitis) is caused by a parasite that can be spread by goose droppings, but does not mature or reproduce in humans. Recommendations to reduce the risk of swimmers itch are to: (1) vigorously towel off immediately upon exiting the water (including under bathing suits), and (2) take a soapy shower immediately after exiting the water. http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/canada_geese.html#control.

 Microbiological Safety of Drinking Water, Microbiology Dept. of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, states the following:

"In my mind, there is no possibility that the Canada goose will ever be a major route of infection. To suggest otherwise is utterly ludicrous, and you can quote me." http://www.goosewatchnyc.com/health-concerns/.

The assertion that parks staff are at risk while mowing the lawn in protective gear is laughable.  Dr. Milton Friend, Former Director, Wildlife Research Center, Waterfowl Disease, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was quoted as follows:

"On occasion we have been wading in that stuff, dead birds up to our elbows. There is not a single documented case of any of us coming down with any kind of a disease problem as a result of Canada geese. We do not have a human health situation, not in the urban goose, not in the wild goose, not in the captive geese that we have also worked with. We do have a lot of diseases out there that can affect people; most of them come from different places and do not come from the Canada goose, and I’ll leave you with that." (Panel Presentation transcript – 1993). http://www.goosewatchnyc.com/health-concerns/.

Apparently, it only takes a flock of geese for the Parks Department to “lose control” of a park.  And the Park Department is unable to wrestle back control of the park until it kills all the geese.  This says more about the Parks Department than the Silver Lake geese.

Killing the geese is a temporary solution. Once the Parks Department kills the geese, how will it prevent the numerous other geese remaining in the area from relocating to desirable lake/lawn habitat?  Unless the Parks Department plans to kill every goose in Whatcom County, the geese will continue to inhabit Silver Lake. Yet the Parks Department asserts that extermination is cost effective.  It is not cost-effective if you consider the long term failure rate of this strategy, requiring the use of extermination on an annual basis.  

There is uniform agreement between wildlife management agencies, including WDFW and USDA Wildlife Services, and wildlife welfare organizations, such as the Humane Society, that the best means of managing Canada geese is through an integrated control strategy that adopts several different tactics, such as population stabilization, habitat modifications and site aversion.

And it is unclear if the Parks Department has the administrative authority to kill the Silver Lake geese.   Clearly, it thinks that it does.  But I believe this exceeds the scope of normal park operations and involves larger policy issues concerning wildlife management on public land. 

The County Council should develop wildlife policy guidance for the county executive and administration staff to follow.  As more development occurs in the county, public land will increasingly become important habitat.  Wildlife policies often impact county compliance with the Critical Area Ordinance and the county SMP, and require a comprehensive planning approach.  The only urgency underscored by the Silver Lake geese situation is the urgency of enacting a comprehensive wildlife strategy.