Expanding snow goose population threatens habitats

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Expanding snow goose population threatens habitats

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- A century after the snow goose teetered near extinction, the winged waterfowl are presenting quite a different dilemma for many scientists and nature lovers.

There are way too many of them, prompting the federal government to approve expanding hunting methods and a longer season for snow geese in hopes of eventually cutting in half a population that at one time was too small largely because of hunting.

There are now 5 million geese in just the Central and Mississippi flyways -- the high-altitude highways by which the birds migrate from wintering grounds in the U.S. to spring nesting areas in Canada. It's an increase of 300 percent since the mid-'70s, according to federal data. Another 1 million snow geese use the Atlantic flyway.

The overpopulation has created a virtual goose gridlock on the ground, and scientists especially fear the potential ecological risk on the delicate nesting habitats.

"At some point, the whole system will collapse. Basically, the habitat is out of control," said Robert Rockwell, a population biologist with the Department of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

The goose population declined in the 1800s largely because of hunting, and there were only about 2,000 to 3,000 snow geese in North American in 1900. The Migratory Bird Act of 1916 helped reverse the losses, according to the National Audubon Society. In the Atlantic flyway, the snow goose population rose to about 60,000 by the 1960s.

Hunting on a limited scale was allowed again in 1975. The goose population has boomed since then thanks in part to increased access to waste grain and other farm crops on migration routes, resulting in a twentyfold increase in the population in the Atlantic flyway since the 1960s.

Current U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulations allow states to issue "conservation orders" to extend hunting seasons. In Pennsylvania, the 107-day season previously ended on March 10 by federal rule. This year, with federal approval, the state extended the season to April 1, when most geese are still making their way north.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09109/963644-140.stm

[peejay 327]

So....what do we do when too many people threaten habitats? We'll have another 3 billion by mid 21st century.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

There are way too many of them, prompting the federal government to approve expanding hunting methods ...

So....what do we do when too many people threaten habitats? We'll have another 3 billion by mid 21st century.

Just say it, peejay. Coy has never been your style. It doesn't suit you.

[peejay 327]

There are way too many of them, prompting the federal government to approve expanding hunting methods ...

So....what do we do when too many people threaten habitats? We'll have another 3 billion by mid 21st century.

Just say it, peejay. Coy has never been your style. It doesn't suit you.

So your solution is to take pictures of human skulls? Interesting. I guess it might be more of a solution than viewing porno.

[Dakine 26]

So....what do we do when too many people threaten habitats? We'll have another 3 billion by mid 21st century.

Kill the pope???

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

So....what do we do when too many people threaten habitats? We'll have another 3 billion by mid 21st century.

Kill the pope???

Pope on a rope?

[JelloShotGirl 0]

I think all of those ILLEGAL Canadian Geese should go back to Canada! There are more Canadian Geese in America than in Canada!

[Danno 1,228]

So....what do we do when too many people threaten habitats? We'll have another 3 billion by mid 21st century.

Does PLanned Parenthood do missionary work?

[jundp 191]

Kill the pope???

[zqt3344 21]

PeeJay has a very good point, one that all the dove loving liberals on here never want to address or face up to!

So....what do we do when too many people threaten habitats? We'll have another 3 billion by mid 21st century.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Someone must have been bored to dig up this thread.

[zqt3344 21]

No doubt, but yet here it is!

Someone must have been bored to dig up this thread.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

PeeJay has a very good point, one that all the dove loving liberals on here never want to address or face up to!

So....what do we do when too many people threaten habitats? We'll have another 3 billion by mid 21st century.

Said it like a good little Ruskie.

[thongd4me 69]

I smell another holiday:

Thanks-goosing!

[Danno 1,228]

Said it like a good little Ruskie.

Oh look, one of the Lefts former hero's !!!!

Chairman Mao's pic, would be fitting too.