All of the natural resource agencies that work on the Anacostia know that there’s a goose problem on the river. There’s too many of them, like many places across the country. But did you know that last year an overabundance of resident Canada Geese— geese that have lost the urge to migrate— ate half of the newly-installed wetland plants at the new Kingman Marsh wetland restoration project down by RFK?

It was a major setback, which didn’t come cheap, either. Several hundred thousand dollars worth of the taxpayer’s plants were turned into goose poop. That’s according to Hannah Harris, a graduate student at the University of Maryland’s Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology Program in her April 2002 paper “The Impact of Resident Canada Geese on Wetland Restoration, and An Evaluation of Available Mitigation Techniques,” which was prepared in collaboration with AWS.

In response to the mowing, the Army Corps of Engineers—who are in charge of the big constructed wetlands program on the river—are redoubling their efforts to protect their restored wetlands from geese by erecting four-foot high, black plastic mesh fencing. They are also countering Branta canadensis by using plants that are not palatable to geese—Arrow Arum, Soft-stem Bulrush, and Spatterdock—in upcoming plantings.

But these are not perfect solutions. Fencing has aesthetic drawbacks in a natural setting. It also requires maintenance, catches floatable trash, and can harm other wildlife. Using a reduced array of wetland plants that geese dislike reduces the diversity—and thus the stability—of the wetland plant community.

Recently, AWS joined officials from the District of Columbia Fisheries and Wildlife Division, the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, and work was initiated on a resident geese management plan. The goal of this process is to develop a regional plan which is approved by the relevant agencies, as well as the public, and which is achieved through an open process, which includes animal welfare organizations. A balance must be achieved in the Anacostia River ecosystem, so that the flora and fauna can peacefully coexist. *