RSCA has been working for nearly a year with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the CA Dept. of Fish & Game, and Redwood City to determine what we can (and can not) do about the over-population of Canada geese in the Shores. Below is an introduction to the Canada Goose Mitigation report.

Recommendations for Redwood Shores are now available in a preliminary document available as a PDF file which can be downloaded using the link at the bottom of the page.

We suggest that you bookmark this page and check occasionally for updates on additional issues or questions.

Canada Goose Mitigation: Recommendations for Redwood Shores

All information provided has been reviewed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife and CA Dept. of Fish & Game and is presented in cooperation with the City of Redwood City.

SUMMARY

Individual homeowners and most commercial tenants will likely not need to take any actions. Most of what is needed will fall to commercial property managers, especially along the Twin Dolphin corridor, Home Owners Associations in the Shores, and Redwood City’s Dept. of Parks & Recreation.

Businesses & Shores HOAs: You are encouraged to provide copies of this document to your business tenants & their employees and to your local HOA residents. We want everyone to understand the problem and the actions being suggested to keep the Shores a GREAT place to live and work.

Here is a brief overview:

1. Large numbers of Canada geese have ceased seasonal migration and have become a “resident” species in almost all of the lower 48 states.
2. Current urban & suburban landscaping techniques have created a “preferred habitat” with no natural predators for these geese.
3. Canada geese were a threatened species in the early 1900s, but the population of “resident” geese in the U.S. has quadrupled in just the past 20 years.
   
   Chart & data from Federal Aviation Administration
4. Resident Canada geese crowd out and compete with native & migrating species for habitat and resources.
5. Resident Canada geese are now designated as a “nuisance” species. (For much more information simply search “nuisance Canada geese” or “resident Canada geese” on the web.)
6. The increasing population of resident Canada geese and the dropping they leave on our sidewalks, parks, and other open spaces here in Redwood Shores is having a negative impact on the quality of life for both Shores residents and businesses.
7. This has also become an economic issue with the costs of constant property clean up for businesses, HOAs, and the City.
8. There is no 100% solution, but there are some simple and humane control methods available to both the City and private property owners — approved by both US Fish & Wildlife and CA Dept. of Fish & Game —that can:
   • Help control the location of our resident Canada geese in the Shores;
   • Help control the movement of resident Canada geese from the waterways onto our lawns, sidewalks, parks, and other open space areas;
   • Provide methods to begin to reduce the local population.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRELIMINARY DOCUMENT

For further information on Canada Goose Mitigation policy & practices, please read the new Additional Questions document addressing frequently-asked questions about these developments.

CLICK HERE FOR THE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS UPDATE

(Updated Saturday, March 24, 2012)
(Check this page occasionally for additional questions and issues that may come up.)