By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Dec. 27, 2018) To say the resident Canada geese situation in Ocean Pines was a hot topic this year would be something of an understatement.

The Ocean Pines Association announced in June it had “contracted with the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services for the removal of resident Canada geese as a part of the USDA’s wildlife damage management project.”

Translation: several hundred geese were rounded up and euthanized.

According to General Manager John Bailey, “because we all strive to be good stewards of the environment, it is regretful that such action is necessary from time to time in order to maintain the balance between two environmental watch-cares – the geese vs. the water quality.

“Unfortunately, the presence of resident Canada geese contributes to unacceptable accumulation levels of feces in the waters and recreation areas of the community,” Bailey said in a press release.

The culling was recommended by the environment and natural assets advisory committee during public meetings and in published reports, and included in the fiscal year budget, but it still caught many people off guard.

What followed was a massive public outcry, including a slew of letters to the editor in this paper, and the formation of a community group meant to ensure no Ocean Pines geese were ever harmed again.

At first, some did not buy the association claim that meat from the roundup was donated to the Maryland Food Bank, but a representative from the Food Bank in July confirmed that was the case.

Environment and Natural Assets Committee Chairman Tom Janasek said goose control was nothing new, but rather a subject “They’ve been talking about … for the last eight-to-ten years.”

“It’s been on the books … we’ve had [board] approval for it for the last five years, but nobody would ever sign the check,” he said. “We never had a GM that actually had the will do the right thing and get rid of them.”

Janasek said his committee and the Ocean Pines administration had already explored several other options, including egg addling, installing monofilament lines around the ponds, growing grass barriers, and then cutting them down.

He pointed to a June 29 press release that said Ocean Pines hired the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the goose removal. When contacting the agency, Janasek said he again went through the checklist.

“When I called them to set this, they said, ‘Have you done this?’ ‘Yup.’ ‘Have you done that?’ ‘Yup.’ They said, ‘Well, this is the last thing we can do,’” he said. “And they went to two other places right after they left us, to do the same thing.

“We’ve been talking about it for years,” he continued. “It was in there, it in the budget [as wildlife management]. It’s been there, plain as day, when we did the budget back in May.”

He also rejected criticism that homeowners were not adequately notified prior to the removal.

“I don’t know how much publicizing did you want? Did you want riots out there? Did you want a bunch of people with signs chasing these guys from USDA or Maryland Department of Natural Resources around the park? I didn’t want any of that,” he said. “I didn’t see any other way to do it … frankly, Ocean Pines has a problem now with everybody having to give their opinion and nothing getting done.”

Wildlife experts also weighed in, saying maintaining such a population can stress systems that people spent a long time in getting just right.

“The lawns, parks and golf courses we create makes ideal Canada goose habitat,” Josh Homyack, waterfowl program manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said in July. “When we insert those into areas with water access, that just makes it more inviting.”

Homyack said he didn’t believe those conditions developed together, but were just a coincidence that makes goose management a concern.

He said the geese were brought here about 100 years ago for hunting opportunities, adding, “When they got rid of that, the geese just stayed,” he said.

Genetically, Homyack said, these birds are a subspecies of the migratory ones and bring their own problems to the areas they claim as their home.

“Generally, problems arise when their numbers or density has increased in an area that is incompatible. These problems include: overgrazing of grass, ornamental plants and agricultural crops; accumulation of droppings and feathers; disease; attacks on humans by aggressive birds; and the fouling of reservoirs, swimming areas, docks, lawns and recreational areas,” Tanya Espinoza, public affairs specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, animal and plant health inspection service, said.

Nationally, these geese have increased in population from 230,000 in 1970 to 3.89 million in 2009, she said.

“The resident population in this area is too large,” she said. “When formulating management strategies, Wildlife Services specialists consider protected species, environmental impacts, the cost effectiveness of methods, and social and legal concerns. Management strategies may include the application of one or more techniques and consideration is first given to nonlethal methods.”

Espinoza provided some context to what is now being kept out of local waterways.

“Canada geese deposit one half to one full pound of feces per bird per day, which can significantly accumulate during molt season or on small properties with large flocks. In comparison, an average size dog drops about one half pound, which responsible owners clean up,” she said.

That’s almost 300 pounds of poo per day — more than one ton per week.

“The geese were humanely collected and euthanized, using methods approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association. The meat from the geese is processed and donated to local food pantries,” she said.

Public outcry continued, although not everyone was critical of how the association acted.

Outside a regular board meeting in late July about half a dozen women held up signs reading “SECRET Slaughter,” “SHAME ON YOU” and “A Community THAT KILLS WILDLIFE!? NOT FOR ME!”

Inside, Bailey again addressed the issue.

“No one – and I repeat no one – wants to euthanize geese, including the police, the United States Department of Agriculture and Wildlife Services agency, the members of the association’s environment and natural assets committee, the OPA staff and the board of directors, nor this general manager,” Bailey said. “However, sometimes things of this world simply do not match up with our desires.”

He said geese could be “nice to look at … [but] they also produce a lot of crap” that pollutes association ponds and flows into nearby creeks, rivers and bays.

“The main solution is simple: do not feed the geese,” he said. “I know it’s cute and fun to do, however it’s not healthy for the geese and it’s not helpful in the prevention of another population growth, which none of us want to see happen.”

“Ultimately, any mitigation efforts that involves association funding and/or fiscal replacement of association property must be coordinated with the association. The environment, the ponds, the creeks, the river, the bay and the geese should be protected – all of it – just as we humans are all stewards of it,” Bailey said, drawing applause from those in attendance.

Reaction on goose control efforts during the public comments portion of the meeting was mixed.

Anne O’Connell said, “Destroying almost the entire flock was wrong” and it seemed the association did not want community involvement.

“The fact that it was done in secret was appalling to a lot of people in Ocean Pines,” she said. “People woke up on Friday [June] 29th and wondered where the geese went. This should never have been done in secret.”

Dick Nieman commended the board “for having the courage … to control the population” of geese, to which many in the audience applauded.

Nieman said the topic had been controversial since he moved to Ocean Pines in 1984 and also invoked the dangers of “blue-green algae” that is sometimes attributed to goose feces.

“Some of it is actually deadly,” he said. “Do we want to have a legal case of blue-green algae killing a kid? … From a legal aspect, I think you all made the right move.”

He added Bob Abele, a former board member and former chair of the Maryland Coastal Bays National Estuary Program and Coastal Bays Fishery Advisory Committee, received death threats for his goose-control efforts.

“If we’ve got deranged people like that because of a goose, something is wrong,” he said.

Doris Lloyd introduced herself as a former environmental scientist and complimented the board for “taking care of the geese.”

“The geese were polluting the lake and killing the fish … and also preventing children from fishing here because of the pollution,” she said. “I like to say ‘conservation is wise use of the environment’ and that’s what you are doing, and thank you.”

Her comments were also greeted with applause.

A resident goose group, dubbed “The Ocean Pines Geese and Ecology Brain Trust Initiative: Securing a Balance,” met for the first time in August at the Ocean Pines library.

Mary Deborah Wilson addressed the more than two-dozen attendees, not counting media and association officials.

Wilson, a mental health and geriatric nurse practitioner, formed the group.

She said about $125 million had been spent nationally “for the eradication of thousands of geese, for years without a sustained impact.”

Several times she dismissed claims that geese contributed to pollution of area waterways.

“If a body of water is polluted, why do birds, including Canada geese, continue to reside there and give birth to anatomically normal and functional geese?” she asked. “And why is Canada geese feces a paramount concern here? What about chicken, possum, fox, heron, egret, seagull, duck, domestic geese, turkey buzzards, eagle, mouse, snake, fish, squirrel [and] rabbit poop?”

A recurring theme in Wilson’s remarks was that chickens, not geese, were the biggest contributors locally to pollution.

“There is an investigation that indicates the Delmarva Peninsula, including Maryland’s Eastern Shore, produces 570 million chickens per year,” she said. “If you factor that, the amount of manure is beyond calculation.”

She said a 2002 national water quality study showed “agricultural runoff was the leading cause of river and stream pollution” and a 2007 EPA study revealed “excrement from factory chicken farms has contaminated groundwater in 17 states and polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states.”

“There are many sources of pollution and consideration is needed before we eradicate geese or other wildlife,” she said.

“I don’t want to see what happened to the geese happen again because, frankly, I really don’t believe [geese] are the culprit. I think it’s us and it’s the chicken farms – and what I’ve cited to you tonight points the fingers at the chicken farms,” Wilson added.

While that meeting was largely civil and several attending board members pledged thoughtful attention, Wilson turned on administrative officials several weeks later.

She invited the board to attend an October meeting of her goose group, but lashed out when several said they could not because of prior engagements.

“That does not send a positive message to the community,” she said. “With all the negative publicity, BOD members’ absence will be interpreted as assignation [and] apathy.”

Association Vice President Steve Tuttle said he planned to attend the meeting. He also weighed in on his experience during the initial summit.

“At the last meeting, the presentation was well over an hour, most of which was pulled from various sites accessible via Google or other search engines. [While] it was considerable information, I did not find it particularly helpful. The information seemed to more be in support of do nothing, the geese are not the problem, people are the problem.

“What I had hoped for in attending the meeting was more discussion by the group on ways to mitigate the impact of the geese. If this meeting is more about the kind of information presented at the last meeting … I for one do not believe this will help to move us forward.”

As evidence Ocean Pines leadership was trying something different, Tuttle said a pilot program using dogs that chase away but do not harm the geese would be tried next. He said he also personally looked into several other alternatives.

“There is no easy remedy across the spectrum of opinions within OPA,” he said. “I welcome constructive efforts by anyone to help provide a remedy that will move us forward.”

Wilson, in an email directed at Tuttle and forwarded to several dozen others, appeared to attack the new director, who was elected two months after the culling occurred.

“Maybe you were not at the same meeting or did not hear expert-supported information,” she said. “The meeting on 8/16/18 included extensive research findings which had not been disseminated or promulgated by the [environment and natural assets committee] or [board of directors].”

Wilson added, if the meeting was “Nothing but Googled info,” why had the board not reviewed that information?

“Extensive info given,” she said. “Info was needed due to the hysteria and ignorance in this community about geese. The OP leadership did not explore the main concerns from SOME residents about health/water. Your leadership should have been reassuring residents, not pushing for lethal actions.

“Our group and my initial initiative/efforts filled that leadership and information vacuum. Someone had to do it no matter how much you diss or minimize the work.”

She added, “I find your comments insulting, leadership-devoid and in poor taste about this meeting, the work of myself and geese committee members. This behavior is out of character for what anyone should reasonably expect from any type of Board member.”

Wilson suggested Tuttle and others either didn’t listen or “came in with prejudiced biases or preconceived notions.”

She called “the lack of review of health and water harm … severely irresponsible,” adding, “As a well-known local politician shared with me ‘the OPA BOD is on the brink of being held responsible for their actions.’”

“Your comments will not stop the intentions, passion, or interests of this committee of concerned OP residents,” Wilson said.

“Do not use your negative reaction to the first meeting as an EXCUSE to not keep involved. We are NOT BUYING it,” she added.

Bailey briefly addressed wildlife management during the final regular board meeting of the year, saying the pilot program with Maryland Geese Control had concluded.

The company, according to its website, provides “a safe and environmentally friendly way to control nuisance geese” by using “highly trained Border Collies to harass and control the geese without ever touching, harming or killing any goose.”

Bailey said the pilot program lasted seven weeks and cost $4,375.

“That leaves us about $5,500 left in that [budget] line item, for wildlife management, to pursue other mitigation efforts in the spring,” he said. “That may include continued use of Maryland Geese Control, particularly in the springtime, when their contract price includes the addling of eggs and removal of nests, so that’s something I think that we want to do.”