GRASS ROOTS CAMPAIGN GUIDELINE

The following suggestions are provided for those willing to spearhead a Canada geese grass roots campaign in an effort to prevent lethal round ups from occurring in their community.

• Chase geese out of area prior to round up. Traditionally, round ups occur during the summer months when adult geese are molting and goslings are not yet fully feathered, rendering the birds flightless. Consequently, the geese will have to walk out of the area. (It is perfectly legal to chase geese out of an area but they must NOT be touched. To injure or kill a goose in the process of chasing is to violate the Migratory Bird Treat Act; a misdemeanor crime under the law.) Generally, a round up location is cordoned off by local police or other law enforcement officers. Chasing geese or any form of interference while a round up is being conducted could result in arrest.

• Alert residents of the community. Chances are good they are unaware of a plan to have geese rounded up and killed.

                    1.  Make up flyers for distribution. (Do not place in mail boxes

                          unless stamped.)

                    2.  Create a phone tree.  Call five like-minded residents and request

                                they each call five more residents – and so on.

• Form committee group and choose a name, such as Save the (Twin Lakes) Geese. Hold meetings to brainstorm strategy.  Use the name when speaking with the media.

• Contact all local newspapers and request they do a story on pending round up.

• Write Letters to the Editors of all local newspapers. Encourage others to write, as well. The more letters to the editors, the more likely the newspapers will follow the story.

• Circulate a Petition. Example:

                 We the undersigned strongly oppose the lethal management of Canada

                 geese and call upon the (Twin Lakes Counsel Members) to abandon any

                 round up plan that results in the death of the geese and/or their progeny.

                Killing programs have proven ineffective and counterproductive when a

                void is created for other geese to fill, whereas, a well designed, non-lethal

                goose abatement program, carried out in all sincerity and with humane

                intentions, will resolve any human-goose conflicts (Twin Lakes) is

                experiencing.

If physically circulating a petition is not possible, consider starting an “online” petition at: http://www.petitiononline.com    When completed, e-mail the petition’s web site address to every like-minded person you know, requesting they sign and forward it to every like-minded person they know. Only through continual forwarding will the e-mail petition gather a substantial number of signatures. Once a substantial number of signatures are gathered, send petition web site address to all local newspapers.  The petition information will add additional interest to articles written about the round up.  Print out the petition and present to those who decided to have a round up conducted.                

• Attend meetings of community officials where round up is going to take place, i.e. Municipal Counsel meetings, County Commissioners/Selectmen/Freeholders meetings, Homeowner/Condo Association Board meetings, to express opposition to the round up. Encourage like-minded residents to attend, as well. There is strength in numbers. Expressing opposition from the head rather than the heart will have more impact. Provide goose facts and present suggestions on non-lethal goose abatement tools and techniques in an effort to encourage decision makers to adopt a non-lethal program.

•  For further information on Canada geese visit the following web sites:

                          1. Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese

                              www.canadageese.org

                          2. Canada Geese New Jersey

                              www.canadageesenewjersey.com

                          3. Humane Society of the United States

                              www.hsus.org/search.jsp?query=Canada+geese&x=20&y=5 

                          4. GeesePeace

                              www.geesePeace.org

                         5. OvoControl

                             www.innolyticsllc.com 

• If necessary, consider staging a demonstration (protest) prior to the round up and alert media with date, time and location. (Some communities require obtaining a demonstration permit.)  Should efforts fail to stop a round up from occurring, consider staging a candle light vigil demonstration after the round up and alert media.

• Don’t waste time writing or calling any government agencies for assistance in stopping a round up, such as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, DNR, USDA Wildlife Service, because these agencies either issue the Depredation Permits required to conduct round ups or conduct the round ups themselves.  

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