278 birds removed from Five Towns parks

Increasing safety, reducing damage is the goal

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After it was determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services that 86 Canadian Geese were mistakenly removed from Milburn Pond Park in Baldwin in June, questions arose as to whether it was also illegal for the geese to be removed from Nassau County parks in the Five Towns.

Woodmere resident Beth Rudetsky told the Herald that the geese had also been removed at Inwood Park and North Woodmere Park and its golf course, both county facilities. Over a four-year period 278 geese were removed from those parks. Inwood Park had 19 removed in 2016 and 27 in 2019; North Woodmere Park had 50 removed in 2018, 110 in 2019, and 72 in 2020. The removed geese are euthanized.

According to a letter written by the Agriculture Department to the county in July, current rules state that birds can be removed from parks within a seven-mile radius from John F. Kennedy International Airport in order to prevent planes from striking birds. Three county parks that are within a seven-mile radius of JFK are Inwood, North Woodmere and Grant Park in Hewlett.

“Bird strikes, bird collisions with aircraft, are a hazard to human health and safety and can cause major financial losses due to aircraft destruction, equipment damage, runway closure, personnel costs, and passenger accommodations,” USDA Wildlife Services spokesman Martin Lowney said are the reasons for geese removal. “Increasing gull strike problems and public concern regarding the environmental impacts of management alternatives resulted in the development of an environmental impact statement on bird strike management at JFK which was completed in 1994.”

Despite the seven-mile radius rule, John Di Leonardo, senior manager at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and president of Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, said that the removal of the geese is “reckless.”

“There were 530 geese that were massacred at Nassau County parks since 2016,” Di Leonardo said. “There were 86 [geese] here (Milburn Pond Park) and over 100 in 2016, even though they’re nowhere near the flight path. For this to happen, there’s so many people who would need to sign off on it. They need to propose a strategic plan. This was absolute carelessness, and it’s cruelty.”

Nassau County spokesman Mike Fricchione said that the removal of the geese at Milburn Pond Park was an administrative mistake. “The United States Department of Agriculture made a routine request to enter Milburn Pond Park as part of their nest/egg management efforts under a five-year county agreement signed in 2016 by the prior [Edward] Mangano administration,” Fricchione said. “When it came to the county’s attention that the park was outside of the seven-mile JFK airport radius, the agreement was rescinded, and the error was brought to the attention of the USDA, which has since taken responsibility for the oversight.”

Di Leonardo described the seven-mile radius rule as cruel and ineffective. “Lethal management does not work because the next flock of birds sees an open pond and flies in,” he said. “These are native birds, this is native wildlife, who people enjoy having here. And even if we didn’t enjoy them, they’re their own individuals. They enjoy their lives.”  

Bridget Downes contributed to this story.