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APPENDIX A <br />PROPOSAL <br />Title: Canada Goose Population Management and Ecology. <br />Prepared by: Dr. James A.Cooper, Associate Professor, Department <br />of Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN. <br />(612- 624 -1223) <br />Importance: <br />Extirpated by market and subsistence hunting over much of its <br />southern range during settlement, the Canada goose (Branta <br />canadensis) has been reestablished in the midwest and elsewhere. <br />This successful wildlife management program resulted from federal, <br />state, and private efforts (Nelson 1963, Dill and Lee 1970, and Cooper <br />1978). <br />Contemporary landscaping and farming practices have greatly <br />enhanced Canada goose habitat. Lawns, soybeans, small grains, and <br />pasture sown on lake and wetland shorelines provide a super <br />abundance of brood - rearing habitat in both rural and urban settings. <br />These sites and harvested agricultural crops, especially corn and <br />small grains, are used at other times of the year. This, coupled with <br />refuges created to protect the birds during establishment and the <br />expansion of cities where hunting is not permitted, has lead to a <br />phenomenal population growth in past 20 years. <br />Because Canada geese are highly social and occur in flocks <br />during all periods of the year except nesting (Zicus 1981, Schultz <br />1983) and graze extensively on grasses, forbs, and crops, goose <br />flocks, particularly adults with flightless young, began to damage <br />Minnesota crops in 1980 (Rose 1981). Concentrations of geese and <br />their droppings in city parks, on golf courses, and goose flights near <br />airports have lead to a growing number of complaints in urbanized <br />areas, e. g., Denver, Minneapolis -St. Paul, Toronto, Boston, and <br />Westchester County in New York (Laycock 1982, Oetting 1983). <br />Page 19 <br />