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Bank Of America Investment The mowed lawns, golf courses and ballfields that have grown with suburban sprawl over the past 10 to 15 years have also been popular with Canada geese that call New Jersey their home.

Over the past 30 to 40 years, Canada geese have learned that food is so readily available in places like the Forsythe refuge that they don't move out during the winter months, Atzert said. called resident Canada geese make a steady diet of the refuge's lush, green grasses. But in the early part of the fall, when the muddy banks of the marsh should be overgrown with vegetation, the geese have already eaten away large patches of grass. Other birds, like migratory Canada geese, have little food to rebuild their fat stores, Atzert said.

Investment Opportunity "The very attractions that make New Jersey the nation's most densely populated state for humans" attracts geese as well, Morris County Freeholder Jack Schrier said.

There has been a huge population boom of Canada geese in the last 10 years, according to Atzert. In 1990, there were 238, 13 states from Virginia to Maine. The most recent count puts the Canada goose population at more than one million. New Jersey has roughly 85, 000 resident Canada geese. half, Coppen said.

Banc Of America Investment But the 96,800 geese who live year-round in New Jersey have long worn out their welcome. They have dropped thousands of pounds of bacteria-laden feces on New Jersey's lawns and waterways, chewed up crops and grass and sometimes chased humans who got a little to close.

Specifically, the Division's position is that a Conservation Order for resident geese should allow for the take of Canada geese from August 1 to September 15, with no bag limits, unplugged shotguns, use of electronic calls and expanded shooting hours (i.e., half hour after sunset). In addition, the Division believes that the Service should consider expanding the Conservation Order to the end of September in areas with operational September seasons, on an experimental basis, as long as minimal impacts to migrant Canada goose populations can be demonstrated.

Banking Investment Counties, towns, schools and corporations with huge campuses have been battling the geese over the years with everything from treating lawns with chemicals, unleashing trained dogs, disturbing nests and, in extreme cases, euthanizing.

"Although resident Canada geese are a valuable natural resource, the Division agrees with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's position that the multitude of problems caused by overabundant resident Canada geese must be addressed, " said Division Director Bob McDowell. "However, given the nearly nationwide problem of overabundant resident geese, we believe that a national comprehensive solution is warranted whereby the federal government or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, not the states, serves in the lead role. As such, we disagree with the Service that state empowerment should be the preferred alternative."

Investment Solution Strategic While killing the resident geese should not be the goal, officials at a Goose Damage Management Workshop in Madison said yesterday, their population must continue to be controlled. But just chasing geese out, just using chemicals or just altering a habitat does not guarantee a reduction in geese population. The most effective control is not done through one effort, but by integrating several approaches.

pad The 12 Canada Goose Migrator is so realistic it could fly away. Colorful, plush, strong and great honking sounds.

Investment Banking Services "There is no one thing we can tell you about to solve the goose problem," said Janet Bucknall, director of the state office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services.

Bank Investment The target is the resident geese population, not the migratory waterfowl that spend the winter in the state before returning to northern Canada. When both are in the state, officials estimate the geese population increases to 190,000.

Alternative Investment One goose drops three-quarters of a pound of feces a day. Fifty geese drop more than 13,500 pounds a year, said George Van Orden of the Hanover Township Regional Health Department, who studies fecal contamination of water resources.

Online Investment Services "In order for New Jersey to resolve this, you have to control geese throughout the entire state, and you have to use an integrated approach," Van Orden said.

Accompany Essential Investment First, towns must enforce "no feeding" ordinances, which most towns already have, Bucknall said. The chances of ordinances solving the problem are slim, but it will likely keep geese from getting too comfortable with people.

Investment Company Union County officials have pledged to enforce the rules by handing out tickets after first making the public aware with warning brochures, said Betty Ann Kelly, a county environmental specialist.

Investment Management Solution The next step, Bucknall suggests, is combining efforts. One such way is altering a landscape and treating eggs. Growing tall grasses or wild flowers around a pond area will make geese uncomfortable with an area because they can no longer easily monitor their surroundings and potential predators.

Investment Management Services "It does not reduce a population. It makes it less inviting," said Jeremiah Bergstrom, project manager for TRC Omni Environmental Corp., a private consulting firm in Princeton.

Guide Investment Stock The only problem: overgrown grass is unattractive not only to geese but also to humans.

Investment Manual Solution "Often what you like is what geese like. In your back yard, you don't want long grass. You want to play baseball with your kids," Bucknall said.

Investment Stock Egg addling -- disturbing nests by shaking, puncturing or oiling young eggs and then putting them back in their nests -- can be used to reduce a population of geese after receiving a permit. If eggs are simply removed, geese will likely lay another egg. But there is no guarantee it will always work, said Bucknall, providing more reason for combined approaches.

Essential Investment Solution A combination of these efforts has been successful in Burnham Park in Morristown, where volunteers and representatives from TRC planted tall wetland flowers and grasses as a buffer around the park's lake.

Citicorp Investment Services Another approach that can also be combined with these efforts is harassment -- chasing out geese with dogs or noise.

Fool Guide Investment Motley Dogs have been used as a harassment method on Union County golf courses, and it has worked well. But county officials have acknowledged it's not enough and needs to be combined with other approaches. The county has received permits for addling and removing.

Fidelity Investment Services "It's a quick fix for golf courses. It's not really a solution for the problem overall," said Dan Bernier, director of the division of park planning and maintenance. "We realize we need to do everything. Attack from every angle."

Investment Management But some areas don't plan to go beyond harassment.

Francisco Investment San For the past three years, Parsippany's method of unleashing a border collie to shoo geese off local parks, golf courses and school fields every day has cut geese populations down from 1,500 to between 30 and 50, Parks Supervisor Jim Walsh said. The trained dog cost Parsippany about $4,000. Goose Control Inc. charges as little as $350 a month and as much as $1,500 a month for professional dog services.

Mellon Investment Services At the County College of Morris, staff in the grounds department have been scaring off geese from athletic fields by chasing them with lawn mowers, and problems have been slight, said Tony Battista, supervisor of custodial and grounds.

Finance Investment And at the Flanders Valley Golf Course, run by the Morris County Parks Commission, it's scare guns "every day, all day" that push geese off the grounds, said Kurt Mazzucco, assistant superintendent.

Investment Manual Science But all harassment does is push geese from one town to another, said Charles Fischer, chairman of Denville's Environmental Commission.

Investment Advisory Services "All we're doing is chasing them to Denville to Madison to Boonton. Somebody's got to bite the bullet," said Fischer.

Advice Investment Hanover introduced euthanization by carbon dioxide a year ago at its sewerage plant authority, where the problem was getting too far out of control.

Guide Investment "The problem was so bad. It was horrific. They tried everything, and couldn't get rid of the goose population," Van Orden said.

Chase Investment Services Some areas are still struggling to find the right solution. In Jefferson, officials had been using chemicals, but the $200 per acre chemical was too cost-prohibitive, prompting the idea of using dogs. Still the problem seems too big to resolve, said Roland Sparling, supervisor of parks.

Firm Investment "Does something have to be done? Yes. What's the answer? That's another question," said Sparling.

Financial Investment Services By Lori Silverstein
Star-Ledger - 2/21/2003

Topic: Birding

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