1. The Municipality of Anchorage has the responsibility for developing and administering a Goose Management Plan for Anchorage. The Service will provide biological assistance upon request.
2. The Service has determined that lethal methods may be used to help the Municipality manage goose populations in Anchorage, and they will have "no significant biological effect on the overall lesser Canada goose population." The EA recommends that no killing of geese occur off of airport property in Anchorage in 1998.
"The data provided to us by the working group, and the comments of public make several things clear: First, people love geese, but Anchorage has too many. Second, while Anchorage needs to aggressively keep them away from our flight traffic, people wanted to avoid killing geese elsewhere until other approaches are tried," said Connie Barclay, spokesperson for the Service.
The EA identifies goose habitat creation in the form of mowed, fertilized lawns surrounding ponds or lakes as the underlying cause of the increasing urban goose population. Since this habitat is the result of urban development, it will need to be controlled by the Municipality of Anchorage through city planning, habitat alteration on Municipal park land, and education of the public about habitat alteration on private land, according to the EA.
State biological studies have shown the Anchorage goose population is currently doubling every five years. As a result, the number of complaints from homeowners and users of city parks and athletic fields to the Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game increased to several hundred during the summer of 1997. In addition, local airports have had to greatly increase hazing and lethal control of geese to lessen the risk of collisions between geese and aircraft. In 1995 a U.S. Air Force plane crashed after striking geese, killing 24 crew members. Two incidents of geese striking aircraft in the Juneau area, where some geese spend the winter, have been reported in recent months.
In citing Alternative "C" as the preferred alternative, the EA recommends that the population be controlled and limited to 2,000 geese--about half the number counted in 1996. The EA recommends carefully controlled egg collections, translocations of goslings to the west side of Cook Inlet, and continued lethal control of adult geese on airport property to eventually result in an optimum goose population. In future years, if egg collections and translocations are not sufficient, the Municipality may want to consider lethal control of geese on Municipal land. According to the Anchorage Waterfowl Working Group, no lethal control is planned for 1998 other than at airports.
"In the long term, we hope that habitat alteration will eventually control the population", said Barclay. "However, we emphasize that the Service is just making recommendations. It will be up to the Municipality, airports, and the public to implement a plan and make it work. The Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are available to assist local agencies, but we cannot solve the problem."
The Anchorage Waterfowl Working Group includes representatives from the Municipality of Anchorage, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, USDA Wildlife Services, all local airports, the Anchorage Audubon Society and several individuals from the community. Formed in 1995 after the crash of the AWACS jet that took the lives of 24 Air Force personnel, the Working Group conducted intense research, held numerous public meetings and consulted wildlife experts throughout the country.
The Environmental Assessment of Canada Goose Management in Anchorage is available at the ARLIS Library at 3150 C Street (271-4579) or by calling the Service at 786-3309.
FWS
