Alpena Municipal Council approves 3 goose hunts
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ALPENA -- For the last seven years, the Alpena Municipal Council has allowed limited goose hunting at a pair of locations in the city to help control the population of the waterfowl.
On Monday, the council voted three to two to approve three days of goose hunting in the city.
The council did not support a plan from City Manager Rachel Smolinski that would increase oiling eggs in goose nests without a hunt next year. Oiling eggs prevents them from hatching.
Smolinski said in her report to the council that the presence of the large birds in some locations may result in conflicts with area residents. She said it is common for city staff to receive complaints about goose droppings in certain areas of Alpena, especially during the summer months. Excessive droppings could lead to health problems for humans and other animals.
Smolinski recommended the council approve hunts on Sept. 7, 14, and 21 with the stipulation that the city expand a program for goose egg oiling in spring 2024, with no goose hunt next year.
Mayor Matt Waligora and Councilmen Mike Nowak and Danny Mitchell voted for the goose hunt, while Mayor Pro Tempore Cindy Johnson and Councilwoman Karol Walchak voted against it.
The hunts take place at the Alpena County Fairgrounds and at Mich-e-ki-wis Park during the state's goose hunting season, but are not open to the public.
Johnson acknowledged the geese are an issue but believes alternate methods of controlling the population would be better than killing the birds.
"I'm glad we are looking at other options and trying to handle this in certain ways instead of having a hunt every year, " Johnson said. "We have come further than we ever have before, and I think we have made progress, but I'm still a no vote."
Smolinski said in her report officials estimate there are about 169 geese in the local population, but those birds are joined by early migrating geese from surrounding areas.
Last year, during the goose hunt, Smolinski said, 99 geese were removed, in addition to city Department of Public Works employees oiling 95 eggs from 20 nests. The Department of Public Works is permitted through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to oil Canada goose eggs within the Alpena Wildlife Sanctuary each spring. Staff coat the eggs with a vegetable-based oil, which prevents the geese from renesting.
Smolinski said other techniques can help limit birds congregating in local areas, but they must be used frequently to be effective and some are not ideal in the city.
"When determining goose management methods for an area, we must consider several things, including size of the area and feasibility of chosen control methods," she said in her report. "Although harassment techniques, decoys, cracker shells, dogs, repellents, and exclusion techniques, fences, vegetative barriers may be used in select areas, these techniques must be implemented consistently to be successful; and are not always feasible given conditions and limited resources."
Last year, Smolinski created a Goose Management Committee consisting of staff, a representative from the Wildlife Sanctuary board, two council members, and two community members to explore options for management of the goose population in the city. She said the committee continues to evaluate the various control methods for feasibility of implementation, cost, and likelihood of success. She said the committee is also working to identify problem areas in Alpena.
In June the last two years, the city has deployed a Bird-X Goose Buster, which repels geese by utilizing distress calls played at various intervals. Smolinski said the device is effective, but the number of geese at the marina and the frequency of the distress calls needed to repel the geese causes conflict with some marina users.
"We have seen limited success," she said.
Nowak said he wasn't comfortable canceling next year's hunt more than a year out and believes the hunt is part of the progress that is being made in limiting the population.
"The hunt has actually proved to make it manageable," he said. "I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. I agree with using different methods to control the population, but I think the hunt has been very, very effective."