NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS:
Ask Your Legislator to Vote Against AR-104

A memorializing resolution that endorses the US Fish and Wildlife Service's attempt to promote the extermination of geese.


12/8/98

In the Fall of 1997, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a change in federal regulations that would water down its congressionally mandated responsibility of overseeing the issuance of permits to kill Canada geese. The proposal would give state wildlife agencies, well-known for favoring lethality even when effective alternatives exist, essentially unlimited power to issue permits to kill geese regardless of whether the "problems" were real or imagined.

There were two public comment periods on this proposal, one that ended June 1st, 1998, and another that ended September 21, 1998. Critics of the proposal found that it contained many serious flaws, including a failure to address ongoing wildlife management activities that propagate geese and ducks for the benefit of hunters. The proposal also failed to mention that lethality has never proven to be an effective form of goose control. More information is available in one of our past action alerts.

Despite the fact that the comment periods have passed, Assemblyman Guy F. Talarico and Assemblywoman Rose Marie Heck (both from the 38th District) sponsored Assembly Resolution 104 (AR-104), a resolution whose sole purpose is to officially endorse, on behalf of New Jersey citizens, the US Fish and Wildlife Service's deadly proposal. While Talarico and Heck's intent may be honorable, they clearly do not understand that the proposed rule is based on political pressure from state wildlife agencies and bureaucratic expediency, not sound biology. As such, it will not produce any benefit to the citizens of New Jersey.

NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS ONLY:

Tell your representative to vote against AR-104 with our convenient e-mailer below. All you have to do is select your assemblyperson, fill in the blanks, hit the send button, and your representative will receive the message shown.

Thank you!


[Please note: If your legislator is not on the pull-down menu, it is because he/she does not have a public e-mail address (24 of New Jersey's 80 legislators don't). Please give your legislator a quick call and tell him/her to vote AGAINST AR-104. Phone numbers for all legislators are available from the New Jersey Legislature web page.]

Feel free to e-mail us if you have any questions about this form.


Dear Representative  [Who is my legislator?]

I am writing to ask that you vote AGAINST AR-104, a frivolous resolution that would memorialize a very deceptive proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ["Migratory Bird Special Canada Goose Permit" Federal Register: July, 1998 Volume 63, Number 141, Page 39553] that promotes the use of killing to resolve conflicts with Canada geese even though such methods have proven useless.

During the comment period for this proposed rule change, the USFWS received overwhelming opposition from New Jersey citizens in the form of letters and petitions.

AR-104 seeks to memorialize an attempt by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to pass off its congressionally-mandated responsibility regarding Canada geese to state wildlife agencies.

The proposed regulation change relies heavily on unsupported claims, exaggeration, and contains major flaws in logic. It assuredly would NOT address problems that some people may be experiencing with geese here in New Jersey or elsewhere. I encourage you to read the proposed rule and see for yourself that, while its authors describe it as a "management plan," it is completely devoid of anything resembling a plan.

Suspiciously, the proposed rule talks a lot about goose populations, but avoids noting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife actively manage wetland areas throughout our state to INCREASE populations of ducks and geese. This allows them to increase revenues by selling more hunting licenses to a tiny minority - "sport hunters" - at the expense of the general public. Indeed, if there are those who feel that the population of geese is too high, blame must be put where it belongs: on the New Jersey Department of Fish, Game and Wildlife. Perhaps it's time for the Legislature to consider laws forbidding this self-serving special interest form of wildlife management.

Please vote AGAINST AR-104. The federal regulation change that it endorses will only lead to massive amounts of needless bloodshed while not helping to solve problems that some people may be having with geese. Until the state and federally sponsored goose propagation programs can be stopped, there are many effective non-lethal methods of goose control that can be employed to resolve conflicts between people and geese.

Thank you for your kind consideration.

Sincerely,

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