Amid public outcry, Michigan pauses goose-killing program

• Last year, state officials swapped a longstanding goose relocation program with a new policy allowing landowners to kill nuisance geese in some cases
• Animal rights activists mobilized against the policy, and state officials later reversed course
• DNR officials say they’re pausing the euthanasia program and looking for other ways to manage Michigan’s geese

State officials have indefinitely paused a controversial program that allowed landowners to combat nuisance geese by hiring crews to kill them.

In a letter sent Friday to Democratic lawmakers who had objected to the state issuing permits to send problem geese to chambers where they would be gassed with carbon dioxide, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Scott Bowen said the agency will instead look for other ways to manage Michigan’s geese.

Since 2022, the DNR has allowed property owners or parks staff to obtain permits to hire federal goose-killing contractors if the birds were involved in a “human health and safety situation," such as a beach closure due to the E. coli found in the animals’ feces.

Last fall, regulators expanded the gassing program to include nuisance geese. Municipalities, lake associations, golf courses and other goose-aggrieved parties would be able to obtain permits to have geese euthanized starting in June.

DNR spokesperson Ed Golder said 10 landowners had so far applied for euthanasia permits, but the DNR had not yet issued any.

The euthanasia program was meant to replace a longstanding goose relocation program that had been deemed ineffective. Several other states operate similar programs, including Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.

Related:

• Yes, Canada geese are annoying. But should they be gassed to death in Michigan?
• Fed up with geese, Michigan abandons relocation efforts. Next up: killing them
• Avian flu has killed over 300 geese, other wild birds in Michigan, state says

To qualify for a euthanasia permit, applicants needed to meet some prerequisites. They must have first tried destroying the animals’ eggs and nests to no avail. And permits were only available to property owners who had at least 100 geese on their property or had an approved human health and safety threat.

Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, was among the lawmakers who questioned the need for the goose-killing program. Polehanki told Bridge Michigan she was "pleasantly surprised” by the pause.

“I don't believe that they had tried everything in the toolkit of keeping geese away from these mostly manmade water habitats that they love,” Polehanki said. 

But Andy Sarkisian, waterfowl control committee chair for the Lake Sherwood Homeowners Association in Oakland County, said he saw the euthanasia program as a last resort for problem geese whose prolific pooping hinders residents’ quality of life.

Beyond destroying nests every year, the lake association encourages residents to install noisemakers and barriers made of fishing lines along the shoreline to deter geese, he said. Yet the geese continue to be a problem.

“While it may seem extreme to the bird fans, it's not like anyone does this lightly,” Sarkisian said.

He said he took offense to recent efforts by anti-goose-killing activists, whose public condemnation of the euthanasia program included a billboard near I-96 urging drivers to contact Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and tell her “don’t gas geese!”

The California-based group In Defense of Animals was behind the billboard. Katie Nolan, a campaign specialist with the group, celebrated the DNR’s decision to pause the euthanasia program, saying it could have ramifications for how other states handle future conflicts with wild animals.