05-10-2006 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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GOOSE PROGRAM NEWS March 2006 Geese return —The first Metro Area Canada geese arrived from the south over the past two weeks, joining the thousand or so that over - wintered on open water areas. The next warm period with strong south winds will bring the bulk of the Twin Cities birds back and they will disperse to nesting areas where there is open water. While returning honkers are the still the best indicator of spring, they are also a reminder of need to manage them. Progratn changes -Since the beginning of the gosling relocation program in 1982, it was clear that if the relocated birds were as successful as those released in Twin Cities in 1950s and 1960s, eventually there would be no more "gooseless" wetlands. True to the prediction, Iowa, the last state willing to take relocated goslings, announced last summer that it was ending its Canada goose relocation program. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources ( MNDNR) also indicated that with state Canada goose population 100,000+ birds above the long -term goal, there were few if any places needing additional geese in Minnesota. Good management is the anticipation of problems as well as solutions, and the MNDNR has been on top this situation. In 1999, a white paper was prepared on the disposal of goslings if they could not be relocated. Using their own and Goose Program research on gosling disposal options and costs, two options appeared feasible — gosling pasturing and the use of the geese as animal food. A third option — killing and landfilling or incinerating was discussed and rejected. In 2002, the Goose Program explored gosling pasturing further by surveying the availability of rental goose pastures and costs by contacting Minnesota elk ranchers. Survey results showed no individual properties large enough to take the 2,500+ goslings trapped each year and the costs to be in the $5 per bird range. Combined with processing costs, labor, and transportation, the pasturing option would increase the program cost about $25 per gosling. Holding the goslings in pens and feeding them grain until they could be processed in September was cheaper, $18 per gosling, but this option would require construction of new pens. The use of the goslings for animal feed remained hypothetical until the Wildlife Science Center, a non - profit education and research program, indicated interest in using the birds as feed for captive wolves and bears. Under the animal food option, the goslings will be humanely killed and frozen for use by the Wildlife Science Center. There will be additional cost of $4 -6 per gosling. Because no goslings will be released to benefit hunters, the MNDNR cannot justify expenditure on pen maintenance and bird care, and these costs will be assumed by the Goose Program. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) completes a resident goose environmental impact statement —After four years of input, deliberation, and 23 years after the initiation of MNDNR'S urban goose management program, the USFWS has published a final EIS on resident goose management. The options selected in the EIS included those already in use in Minnesota. Copies of the EIS can be found at: