OSOYOOS TIMES-September 15, 2010

By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times

Osoyoos’s leaders will be taking their concerns about the large population of Canadian geese in town to the upcoming Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) convention in Whistler.
The Town will be presenting at the convention calling for the provincial government to “encourage the (federal) Canadian Wildlife Service to be more permissive in the issuance of kill permits, and failing an agreement to do so by Canadian Wildlife Service, that the Province take the initiative to provide kill permits to affected municipalities for goose population reduction or reconsider the bag limits under the British Columbia Hunting Regulations.”
The resolution, which was endorsed by Osoyoos council in the spring, states that the “increased Canada goose population is having negative economic impacts on communities where tourism is a major industry.”
The resolution also states that local egg addling efforts have only “a limited effect” and provincial hunting regulations are “insufficient to control the increased numbers of geese.”
Mayor Stu Wells said the resolution received support from local government representatives who attended the Southern Interior Local Government Association annual general meeting in Sun Peaks in April.
Because of that support, he said, Osoyoos has “gold star status” which means the resolution will be heard on the floor of the UBCM convention, which runs from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1.
Wells said what the Town is looking for is another tool, along with addling and bird-scaring methods, to control and reduce the local goose population.
The large goose population in the area — the local count for 2009 was 2,641 — could hurt the beaches Osoyoos depends on for tourism revenue, he said.
The town of Oliver was forced to shut down a beach for a week last year due to fecal coliform bacteria from geese droppings.
“If Oliver has to close beaches, can we be far behind?” Wells said.
Canada geese are protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act which prohibits killing or capturing the birds or damaging, destroying, removing or disturbing their nests, except as provided for under federal Migratory Birds Regulations.
Wells said a big problem, however, is the geese that are in Osoyoos aren’t migrating because “they can make it through the year here now” due to “changing weather” patterns and a lack of natural predators.
Ultimately, Wells said, the Town wants it to be possible for local hunters to be able to kill more geese.
In order to hunt Canada geese, hunters must get a federal Migratory Game Bird Hunting permit in addition to any provincial permits that may be required.
According to Environment Canada, the federal government will consider kill permit requests but applicants must “demonstrate that all other reasonable management options have been attempted.”
Upcoming hunting seasons for Canada geese in the Okanagan Valley run from Sept. 20 to Nov. 28, from Dec. 20 to Jan. 5, 2011, and from Feb. 21 to March 11, 2011.
Hunters can only kill five geese per day during those seasons.
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