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APPENDIX A PROPOSAL Title: Canada Goose Population Management and Ecology. Prepared by: Dr. James A. Cooper, Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN. 55108 (612- 624 -1223) Importance: Extirpated by market and subsistence hunting over much of its southern range during settlement, the Canada goose (Branta canadensis) has been reestablished in the Midwest and elsewhere. This successful wildlife management program resulted from federal, state, and private efforts (Nelson 1963, Dill and Lee 1970, and Cooper 1978). Contemporary landscaping and farming practices have greatly enhanced Canada goose habitat. Lawns, soybeans, small grains, and pasture sown on lake and wetland shorelines provide a super abundance of brood - rearing habitat in both rural and urban settings These sites and harvested agricultural crops, especially corn and small grains, are used at other times of the year. This, coupled with refuges created to protect the birds during establishment and the expansion of cities where hunting is not permitted, has lead to a phenomenal population growth in past 20 years (Cooper and Keefe 1997). Because Canada geese are highly social and occur in flocks during all periods of the year except nesting (Zicus 1981, Schultz 1983) and graze extensively on grasses, forbs, and crops, goose flocks, particularly adults with flightless young, began to damage Minnesota crops in 1980 (Rose 1981). Concentrations of geese and their droppings in city parks, on golf courses, and goose flights near airports have lead to a growing number of complaints in urbanized areas, e. g., Denver, Minneapolis -St. Paul, Toronto, Boston, and Westchester County in New York (Laycock 1982, Oetting 1983). While population reductions methods, such as capture and removal and increased hunting kill, have been used, none Page 59