Subject: Snow Goose Problems
Date: May 11 22:22:14 1998
From: Alan Richards & Ann Musche' - mrm at WILLAPABAY.ORG


I am fwd'g this public announcement from Helen E to Tweeters
--ar
mrm at WILLAPABAY.ORG (Alan Richards & Ann Musche')
===========================================================
>Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 15:40:35 -0400
>From: Helen Engle <HEngle at compuserve.com>
>Subject: Snow Goose Problems
>Sender: Helen Engle <HEngle at compuserve.com>
>
>Alan:
>Here's a message I got from Dept. of Wildlife Manager Tom Juelson after I
>sent him a copy of Frank Gill's testimony on the Snow Goose problem in US
>House of Rep.
>
><<<<<Hi Helen,
>Thanks for the copy of Gill's presentation. I'm glad that Audubon is
>taking such a high profile recognition of this problem. A few months ago,
>there
>were some people on Tweeters who believed this was a big scam so that
>hunters could kill more geese. It's hard to get a more credible source
>that NAS!>>>>
>. . . . . . . . .
>So Alan, I was wondering if you would post the copy of Frank Gill's
>presentation to the Resources Committee on TWEETERS? Here it is:
>
>Audubon's Dr. Gill Testifies before House Resources Subcommittee.
>Oversight Hearings Address the Impact of Snow Geese on Arctic Resources
>
>April 23, 1998 - Before the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation,
>Wildlife and Oceans; Committee on Resources, U.S. House of Representatives:
>Chairman Saxton, I appreciate this opportunity to appear before the
>Subcommittee today to testify on the detrimental impact of Snow Geese on
>Arctic resources.
>
>My name is Dr. Frank Gill, Senior Vice President and Director of Science
>of the National Audubon Society. I am also President of the American
>Ornithologists' Union, the country's foremost society of professional
>ornithologists. With me is Ms. Genevieve Thompson, Executive Director of
>Audubon's North Dakota State Office.
>
>The National Audubon Society is one of the nation's leading environmental
>organizations. We have 550,000 members, organized in 520 chapters in the
>U.S., Canada, and Central America. Our members are concerned about birds,
>wildlife, and their habitats. Audubon's involvement with the issue of snow
>goose overpopulation has included: 1) representation on the Arctic Goose
>Habitat Working Group; 2) participation in the Hudson Bay Lowland
>Excursion, coordinated by the Arctic Goose Joint Venture Management Board;
>and 3) representation in the Stakeholder's Committee on Arctic Nesting
>Geese.
>
>The National Audubon Society endorses the recommendations of the Arctic
>Goose Habitat Working Group, an international team mandated to
>scientifically document this urgent ecological problem. It is essential
>that we develop immediate steps that directly reduce the mid-continent
>population of Lesser Snow Geese. Long-term solutions which may involve
>changes in land-use practices in the southern and central United States
>also need to be developed.
>
>The mid-continent population of Lesser Snow Geese (breeding west of Hudson
>Bay, and wintering on the southern Great Plains and western Gulf Coast) has
>grown by about 300% since the 1960s, and is now estimated at well over
>three million birds. The population is continuing to grow at an annual
>rate of 5%. This unprecedented number of mid-continent Lesser Snow Geese
>has had an extensive, destructive, and potentially irreversible effect on
>arctic and sub-arctic staging and breeding habitats.
>
>The Snow Goose population nesting west of Hudson Bay, Canada, has reached
>incredible densities (sometimes with as many as 3,000 nests packed into one
>square kilometer of tundra). Plant species are being destroyed at
>unprecedented levels as a result of grubbing (by the root) and grazing by
>the burgeoning Snow Goose population in the Arctic. These plants are being
>replaced over vast areas by unpalatable, salt-tolerant species. To quote
>Robert F. Rockwell, Kenneth F. Abraham, and Robert L. Jeffries [Winter 1997
>issue of the Living Bird Quarterly) "Scientists are concerned that the
>increasing numbers of geese may soon lead to an ecological catastrophe as
>these voracious feeders turn the delicate arctic habitat they inhabit into
>a barren wasteland."
>
>Ironically, the problem of too many Snow Geese is one of our own making.
>The rapid increase in mid-continent Snow Goose populations is primarily a
>result of human modifications of habitat on the wintering grounds, along
>the migratory routes, and in the staging areas. Agricultural land-use and
>wildlife management practices have provided a nutritional "subsidy", and
>have led to high winter survival and recruitment rates. Efforts to protect
>and enhance populations of waterfowl have worked too well for Snow Geese.
>Each year, an expanded population of Snow Geese has arrived in their arctic
>habitat in a stronger condition, with increased breeding success.
>
>These burgeoning numbers of mid-continent Lesser Snow Geese have caused
>widespread and potentially irreversible devastation to two-thirds of the
>habitat that otherwise would be mostly pristine tundra west of Hudson Bay
>in Canada. Long term studies show that populations of many bird species
>that depend on tundra habitat are declining precipitously as a result of
>the growing Snow Goose population. These include species from the Partners
>in Flight "WatchList" of birds at risk such as Hudsonian Godwit and Smith's
>Longspur, other rare species such as Yellow Rail, American Golden Plover,
>and Stilt Sandpiper.
>
>If we do not act, nature will not "take its course" in the short time
>needed to halt devastation of the tundra. This is due to the increased
>ability of Snow Geese to sustain themselves on the wintering grounds in
>ever-greater numbers. It is also due to the species' demonstrated ability
>and willingness to extend their Arctic/Sub-arctic nesting and foraging
>ranges continually as existing breeding grounds deteriorate. Although
>negative effects of these factors have been observed in Snow Geese
>offspring (i.e., smaller size, poor feather development, and increased
>disease and mortality), adult survival continues to increase. A potential
>scenario is that before millions of these geese suffer a population crash,
>they will have spread across much of the Arctic, devastating huge areas of
>tundra, and taken several other valuable bird and animal species with them.
>
>We are here today to publicly state the unanimous resolution of National
>Audubon's Board of Directors to protect wildlife habitat and ecosystems in
>the Arctic and Sub-arctic currently under threat from damage by burgeoning
>populations of Lesser Snow Goose. The Board voted in September 1997 to
>support the science-based recommendations of the Arctic Goose task force to
>reduce the mid-continent population of the Lesser Snow Goose through
>expanded hunting and other means. Audubon's concern in this situation is
>in line with the Society's mission to protect birds, wildlife, and their
>habitat, using the best tools available.
>
>The Board resolution commits the National Audubon Society to work closely
>with federal, state and Canadian agencies, and other non-governmental
>organizations to define the most effective mix of short-term and long-term
>solutions to the Snow Goose population problem. By acting now, we hope to
>reduce the loss of critical habitat and to protect the many bird species
>and other wildlife that depend on this habitat.
>
>Mr. Chairman, once again I want to thank you for providing me with this
>opportunity to testify before the Subcommittee today. Ms. Thompson and I
>would be happy to answer any questions you might have.
>Date: Fri, 24 Apr 98 13:32:45 -0500
>From: John Bianchi, 212/979-3026, jbianchi at audubon.org>
>Subject: NAS' Dr. Gill Testifies on Snow Geese
>
>
>