Public Meeting About Goose Management Set for March 4
At 5:30pm on Wednesday, March 4, the Urbana Park District will host a public meeting about goose management at Crystal Lake at the Anita Purves Nature Center, 1505 N. Broadway, Urbana.
The number of resident Canada geese that have made Crystal Lake their home in recent years is above a number that is healthy for the lake or for people, according to Derek Liebert, superintendent of planning and operations for the Urbana Park District.
“The geese are diminishing the ecological health of our lake,” Liebert explained. “Over time a large amount goose fecal matter has been added to the lake. Without remediation, that contributes to a carpet of floating plants such as watermeal and duck weed that are expanding and covering the lake surface. And that same fecal matter is ending up on the Lake House dock, deck, boats, trails and all around places where people gather and eat. There is concern for fecal coliform bacteria contamination of both the lake and the park grounds,” he added.
“While we clean off the surfaces, the geese return again and again and it has become a losing battle,” he said.
As they are a protected species under both Illinois state law and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the park district must take care to use only approved goose management tools. At the meeting, park district staff will present Illinois Department of Natural Resources recommended tools. The staff will also discuss what tools have been tried so far and what tools are expected to be used in the future, their pros and cons and some about their costs and benefits. There will be time for public input about their personal experiences with geese.
“We will never have a zero goose population, and that is not our intent. With whatever we try, the goal is to limit the number of geese at Crystal Lake to a sustainable and healthy level. This will take many years of repeated and different approaches,” Liebert said.
The Urbana Park District, other public agencies and area lake managers have begun to meet to discuss the increase in the goose population throughout the area and how to manage the population.
“We are not the only area agency affected by this issue,” Liebert said. “We’ll continue to share information and methods that work to make public spaces healthy for geese and other wildlife and for the people who enjoy those spaces.”