Silver Lake Park Geese Remain At Risk

by Wendy Harris

In response to public opposition to the extermination of Silver Lake geese, the Whatcom County Parks Department issued an update letter on May 6, 2013, most of which focused on how goose poop is really, really icky. While I appreciate the effort to keep the public informed, nothing in the letter alleviates concerns regarding the safety of the geese. Members of the public have requested assurance that the geese will not be killed this year. That was not provided, although the letter does a good job of obscuring this fact.

I am concerned that the letter is an attempt to justify the predetermined decision to kill the Silver Lake geese. The Parks Department is inviting the USDA Wildlife Services to the park to “survey” the geese. The only reason to invite Wildlife Services to the park is to pursue extermination. Wildlife Services “surveys” the geese to determine the best timing for the extermination, and to calculate its extermination fee. And from everything that I have read, Wildlife Services always over estimates goose flock size to increase its fees.

Timing is critical in managing geese. The geese can only be killed during a short window each year, between late July and early August when they are molting and unable to fly away.  That period is fast approaching.  Either the geese will be killed in the next 1 or 2 months, or the County will need to wait until next summer.

But nonlethal goose management must also be timed for optimal success. A viable long term goose management program requires fact gathering and analysis, community input, planning and a period to monitor and make adjustments.  Planning efforts for managing geese normally begin in late February or early March. There is no successful nonlethal management program that can be instituted in one month, based on only one control technique.

After geese are nesting or raising goslings, it is too late to begin a goose control program. The geese will not abandon their young. This season’s goslings have hatched and are maturing. This is not the correct time of year to institute a goose management plan, and it is inhumane to kill the geese simply because of Parks Department’s poorly timed efforts.

Nor is there any urgency in this matter. Previously, the Parks Department stated that there were about 60 geese at the park last year. The May 6, 2013 letter indicates that there are currently about 60 geese. In other words, there is no evidence that the Silver Lake goose population is even growing. Nor has the Parks Department determined an appropriate population goal, leaving in question how many geese should be killed. We all agree that too many geese create human/wildlife conflicts and this should be resolved. However, it is not an emergency that requires extermination of the geese, and certainly not extermination of all of the geese.

May I suggest an alternative reason for targeting the geese for eradication? The Parks Department is attempting to increase cabin rentals at Silver Lake to produce income. Part of that effort involves installing a new playground, with a total cost of $130,000. The geese are being killed for reasons that are purely aesthetic. The Parks Department does not want tourists from being discouraged from renting cabins because of goose droppings. This is the very worst justification for killing county wildlife. If the Parks Department proceeds with the goose extermination this summer, it will expose the county to liability for violation of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Act requires that all nonlethal control methods be exhausted before geese are killed, and that only the minimal number of geese be killed. It is not in the public’s interest to create this potential legal exposure. (Some House members are currently attempting to conduct a congressional inquiry into extensive misconduct by Wildlife Services.)

The Parks Department incorrectly asserts that it is limited in its efforts to control the geese because they are under federal jurisdiction. The only thing this limits is the Parks Departments ability to kill the geese. It does not prevent the Parks Department from engaging in a wide variety of nonlethal control methods, all of which have higher long term success rates than extermination. These methods include using herding dogs, egg oiling, and habitat control. None of these control methods are mentioned in the May 6, 2013 letter. The potential control methods that were mentioned, chemical repellant and animatronic devices, are not the most cost effective or successful.

The problems with Silver Lake Park geese reflect a general need for policy guidance and community input on matters of wildlife management. I suggest that the County appoint a citizen task force to help develop a comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy. Among its benefits, a wildlife strategy would establish standards and guidelines on how wildlife should be managed on County owned land. This is too important a matter to be left to the Parks Departments administrative authority. Moreover, such decisions, as most good planning decisions, should be made comprehensively rather than on a site-by-site basis.

In the meanwhile, nothing in the letter of May 6, 2013 restricts the Parks Department from killing geese. This article will go to print in June, and I can not predict what the status of the geese will be at that point. If they are to be killed, it will occur between late June and early August. To ensure that the geese will not be the victims of poor park management, please continue to call and write to the County Executive, County Council and Parks Department. The comments received to date have been very helpful. (council@co.whatcom.wa.us; parks@co.whatcom.wa.us; jlouws@c.whatcom.wa.us)

After meeting with Whatcom County Executive Jack Louws and the Parks Department, it is almost a certainty that the Silver Lake geese will be killed this year. The executive was receptive to the possibility of habitat modification at the park for next year. Neither the Parks Department nor the executive were concerned that exterminating the geese was a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act requirements to exhaust nonlethal control methods before killing geese. As I was told at our meeting, they are “just” geese.