TO: Common Council FROM: Josephine Martell DATE: March 3, 2016 RE: No Feeding Geese Ordinance
As part of a city-wide effort to better manage the Canada goose population and protect our wildlife, the City of Ithaca has been working to come up with a humane management plan that addresses the needs of our residents. Ithaca has increasingly struggled with a burgeoning geese population on all habitable lands, which has led to considerable human-wildlife conflict, especially around goose poop on playing fields and parklands where people like to recreate. Geese prefer wide-open, grassy spaces near water and Ithaca has these locations in abundance. Not only relegated to Ithaca, this has become a widespread problem in many states across the U.S. In the summer of 2015, a small working group was convened, as a sub group of the Ithaca City Parks Commission, to come up with a set of recommendations for how to address the issue of Canada Geese on city lands. Membership of the group included Josephine Martell, Common Council and Chair; Rick Manning, Friends of Stewart Park; Jim D’Alterio, Director of Cass Park; and Larry Fabbroni, Parks Commission member. The group met two times and had a series of e-mail discussions. After reviewing the literature on Canada Goose management, considering public opinion in Ithaca, reaching out to wildlife and management experts, and examining how other communities have dealt with this issue, the group proposed a 3-5 year pilot program. The proposed program consists of a three-prong approach that includes egg oiling, hazing and implementing a no feeding ordinance, as these are the three main components of any successful, non-lethal management program. This approach is supported by NY DEC, US FWS, and even The Humane Society of the Unites States. The primary goal of the program is to deter the geese from staying on City lands by making it unappealing for them and forcing them to go elsewhere. Ithaca cannot address the increasing geese population as a whole across the US, or even NYS, so this strategy focuses on keeping them off the City lands where they are causing the most human-wildlife conflict. Other management options are still being considered but this is the approach we are currently trying as information is gathered over the next few years. The group also held an initial stakeholder meeting in early January, 2016 with a variety of local stakeholders including NY DEC, Cornell Department of Natural Resources, Friends of Stewart Park, Ithaca College, Ithaca High School, the State Parks, Cornell Plantations, the Parks Commission, the City Forrester (who serves on the Parks Commission and has been very active in the discussion all along), the Ithaca Youth Bureau and the Director of a national program, Geese Peace. Other local stakeholders including the Lab of Ornithology and the Cayuga Bird Club were also invited, and are part of the discussion, but could not attend the meeting. As a result of that meeting, the following activities were identified for the first year: 1. Create and populate a GIS map of geese nests through volunteer partnerships 2. Draft a geese management plan for the City based on the agreed outcomes 3. Draft and propose a no feeding ordinance City wide. Install signs along our waterways and launch a PR campaign to educate public about the new rule. Parks staff to help educate public. 4. Work with DEC in summer 2016 to band and collar geese within the City to better determine their movements and population 5. Explore the possibility of a student intern for summer 2016 to test some hazing methods and identify key conflict areas, and work with DEC The No Feeding ordinance (#3) is currently before us for review. DEC strongly encourages communities to implement a no feeding ordinance as part of a Canada Geese management plan for a variety of reasons including that feeding water fowl leads to poor nutrition for the birds, encourages unnatural behavior (no fear of humans), causes over crowding, leads to costly management strategies and more. We hope to bring this ordinance before the May Council meeting as, due to goose biology, the bulk of goslings will hatch during the end of April and early May. If we can have signs installed, staff ready and some well framed media and social media placement on the issue prior to hatching, then we will be in a good position to change public- and goose- behavior on this issue. We hope to communicate to the public how feeding is currently hurting the geese by encouraging them to stay and providing them with poor nutrition, which causes a series of impacts and human conflict. We intend to emphasize that by not feeding geese, and discouraging them from public lands, the public can help us manage the geese population and hopefully decrease it over time. The City Forester, Jeanne Grace, feels that her staff can handle the majority of public education in the parks around this issue. 3/3/16 Page 1 of 2 An Ordinance to Amend The Municipal Code Of the City of Ithaca, Chapter 164, Entitled “Dogs and Other Animals” To Prohibit the Feeding of Waterfowl on City Property WHEREAS, the City has been struggling with considerable human-wildlife conflict resulting from a burgeoning geese population on habitable lands, and WHEREAS, the conflict between people and waterfowl is particularly pronounced on the City’s playing fields and parklands where people like to recreate, and WHEREAS, feeding of waterfowl contributes to the concentration of such birds in areas frequented by the public by encouraging birds to congregate for food, and WHEREAS, feeding of waterfowl can be detrimental to their health as waterfowl can suffer from nutritional disorders, such as calcium deficiencies and bone disease, as a result of the poor quality of food like bread and corn that is typically fed to geese in public settings, and WHEREAS, feeding of waterfowl causes behavioral changes in the geese by decreasing their fear of humans and encouraging to remain in locations where public feeding is taking place, and WHEREAS, the concentration of waterfowl can be destructive to lawns and can interfere with the planned use of parklands, and the resultant quantities of feces can create public health concerns and reduce the aesthetic and recreational value of parks and other public property; now, therefore, ORDINANCE NO. ____ BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca that Chapter 164 of the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca be amended as follows: Section 1. Chapter 164 of the Municipal Code is hereby amended to add a new Article to be inserted as Article III, Waterfowl. Section 2. Chapter 164, Article III is hereby amended to read as follows: Article 3: Waterfowl §164-21 Applicability. This article shall apply to all areas of the City of Ithaca. §164-22 Definitions. As used in this article, the following words shall have the meanings indicated: 3/3/16 Page 2 of 2 WATERFOWL Members of any and all species of wild and domestic aquatic birds, including but not limited to ducks, geese, and swan. §164-23 Feeding prohibited. It shall be unlawful to provide feed, including, but not limited to, bread, corn, and other grains, to any waterfowl on public property. It shall be unlawful to provide feed, including, but not limited to, bread, corn, and other grains, to any waterfowl on private property without the prior approval of the owner of such property. §164-24 Enforcement; appearance ticket. All police officers in the City shall administer and enforce the provisions of this article and for such purpose shall have the authority to issue appearance tickets. §164-25 Penalties for offenses. Except as provided in the Agriculture and Markets Law, a violation of this article constitutes a civil offense punishable in accordance with §1-1 of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code. These penalties shall be in addition to any other penalties provided by law. Section 3. Effective date. This ordinance shall take effect immediately and in accordance with law upon publication of notices as provided in the Ithaca City Charter. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
