Since there is no enforcement of where people can or can not go, signs will
keep a few people out, others will ignore them. I spent Saturday afternoon
at the Fill and watched birds reactions to various things as part of a
nature writing class. I found the ducks, killdeer and geese had little
response to people walking by off the trail, but had immediate flee response
to people who had dogs, both were on leash but still caused the geese and
ducks to move into the water away from the the shore. A GBH became nervous
and flew away from Shoveler pond upon approach of a person walking. Since
the geese create short grass lawns near ponds, these open grassy "mowed"
looking areas seem to attract walkers more than the tall grass does. Where
are the signs? I did not see any signage on site that indicated an area was
closed. Frankly I think if you want to be affective there will need to be
substantial "area closed signs" visible from the trails at the areas where
people would normally go. These might be best used during breeding season.
Without something more substantial, and without any sort of enforcement,
either official or social, the non-wildlife viewing users of the area (which
I suspect are the majority) may simply disregard any sign which they find
inconvenient. It would be interesting to have somebody do some study about
the current signage effectiveness.

Rob Sandelin
Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
Snohomish County