The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has put on hold a plan to kill Canada geese in portable gas chambers.
Euthanizing geese was one method approved by the DNR last fall for areas with frequent conflicts between geese and humans, and to control the possible spread of disease.
But the plan drew criticism from people opposed to euthanizing geese, including 5th District State Senator Dayna Polehanki. She sent a letter signed by 11 other lawmakers to DNR Director Scott Bowen last month, raising concerns.
In a letter dated May 9, Bowen told Polehanki the program has been paused for this year. She says she was relieved, especially after gathering information about the process that would have been used.
“It does take up to 15 minutes for the geese to die, and they die in CO2 chambers that are brought right to the habitat,” she said.
Polehanki also thinks there are less extreme methods available for areas in which geese are a problem.
“There are lots of options that I also learned about that I don’t think had been tried,” Polehanki said.
In his letter to Polehanki, DNR director Bowen did mention some of those non-lethal methods of dealing with problem geese, including “habitat modification, elimination of feeding, scare tactics, repellants, and nest/egg destruction.” He says they will continue to encourage those options as solutions.
The euthanization program had been set to begin June 1.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.