Background

In January of 1993, a group of concerned Rockland County, New York, residents gathered in response to some very disturbing news. In Clarkstown (one of Rockland County's five independent towns), the supervisor had just proclaimed that he wanted to have thousands of Canada geese killed. He nonchalantly told local reporters that his plan was to have 10,000 of [an alleged] 12,000 geese "rounded up and gassed or poisoned."

Those who learned of this awful scheme could not block from their minds images of these wonderful creatures, their life-long mates and families, being gathered up to spend their last moments of life gasping on toxic fumes or writhing in pain from poison. It was hard to imagine that in a supposedly civilized society, the mere "crime" of living could exact such ruthless punishment. Most county residents in this well-educated suburb of New York City were shocked by the supervisor's regressive attitude towards nature, cavalier disregard for life and insensitivity toward those who approached him seeking non-violent conflict resolution. It was against this backdrop that the Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese was formed.

Many questions emerged when the story first broke in the January 22, 1993 edition of the Rockland Journal-News:

Was the urgency to kill hundreds of geese real or an illusion?

What political motivation or hidden agenda was driving the desire to kill geese and willfully exclude non-lethal methods of goose control?

Why were the concerns of a few given preference over the majority of the community?

Was the rationale behind this deadly plan based on sound logic and a full accounting of the facts?

The Coalition set out to answer these and other important questions.

Suspicions ran high from the start, because the supervisor of Clarkstown only sought advice on what to do from organizations and agencies that profit from the killing of wildlife. Despite all that was said to defend the slaughter, no arguments of substance ever came to light. The killing plan proved to be about "just doing something" to pacify the vengeful emotional state of a small number of people who were suffering minor inconveniences (i.e., soiled shoes, etc.): a condition that could easily be addressed without resorting to bloodshed.

Various investigations by the Coalition revealed that local politicians and state wildlife agencies routinely employ deception and illegality to achieve the goal of wildlife destruction. One common tactic is the use of gross exaggeration. For example, the supervisor's 1993 claim that there were 10,000 - 12,000 Canada geese in Rockland County was wrong: There were less than 3500. When he finally conceded his error, he said he wanted to reduce the Clarkstown goose population to around 2000 geese, yet when goose killing began in 1996, counts revealed there WERE only about 2000 geese in the whole county. As predicted by basic biology, the extremely costly extermination of geese was a complete failure; once geese were killed, others moved in from surrounding areas to fill the void. (The full story is available here.)

While he denies it now, he has known from the start that most people are opposed to his irrational and deadly schemes.

We have confirmed this unpopularity -- thousands of people have signed our petitions in opposition to the killing of Canada geese. While not apparent initially, his obsession with killing is now widely recognized throughout the community, even among his supporters.

The Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese is a diverse group of concerned citizens that came together to protect Canada geese and those who consider them among the jewels of our ecologically bankrupt suburban landscape. The Coalition rigorously challenges goose extermination plans from a scientific, ethical, and practical standpoint. Further, the Coalition monitors the emergence of similar schemes throughout the country. Our research indicates that, despite having decades of precedent, lethal methods of wildlife control are generally ineffective, and leveraged into place by playing to the fears of the public. This web page serves to share some of our findings and foster a greater appreciation for a much-maligned species.

The Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese is dedicated to protecting Canada geese though research, public education, legal actions, and serving as a resource to those in other communities whose geese are being vilified and targeted for extermination. We also work to expose how the economic infrastructure of government wildlife management actually perpetuates human-wildlife conflicts while simultaneously encouraging a bias that favors killing as a form of problem solving. We seek a complete renovation of this operating philosophy. Until such time, we advocate the use of humane, non-lethal methods to resolve or minimize the conflicts between Canada geese and humans.