MARC approves plan to control Canadian geese population at preserve

Feb. 27—WASHINGTONVILLE — Montour Area Recreation Commission (MARC) directors approved a Wildlife Management Agreement at Monday night's meeting that will monitor and control the Canada geese population at the Montour Preserve.

The overpopulation of geese in the preserve, which has long been a popular recreation area, has resulted in unsanitary conditions.

MARC's Monday night agreement is the latest in a series of agreements with the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services that began in 2016 — and has been renewed annually since then.

The APHIS work plan will use a series of methods to reduce wildlife damage. These methods include behavioral modification to prevent damage.

However, controlling wildlife damage, the APHIS work plan says, "may require that the offending wildlife population be reduced."

Stoudt admitted to council that the thought of killing geese as a way of controlling their population in the area is one that many in the community do not approve of.

Stoudt in his report documented one lethal round-up that occurred at the Montour Preserve, on June 28, 2019.

"MARC believes the number of geese culled at the Montour Preserve on June 28, 2019, to have been 25," Stoudt said in his report. "MARC is not party to, nor has records of, any other geese culled at the Montour Preserve and/or in Danville from 2000 to present."

One of the several ways reduction of wildlife can be achieved without killing is to institute a no feeding waterfowl policy; nest and egg treatment will dispose of eggs at a critical time in the lifecycle; and APHIS will remove any goslings found on the property at the request of Montour Preserve.