Backlash Wins: Michigan Shuts Down Goose Gassing Program

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has suspended a controversial pilot program that allowed the collection and lethal gassing of nuisance Canada geese, following backlash from Democratic lawmakers and animal rights advocates.

In a letter sent Friday to legislators, DNR Director M. Scott Bowen announced the agency would pause the “capture and euthanasia” program for 2025, meaning no permits will be issued and no geese will be collected or euthanized this year, including at Belle Isle Park, a key site in the original plan.

“After further consideration and consultation with our wildlife staff, we have decided to pause the program for this year,” Bowen wrote, noting that the agency will instead explore “alternative options for managing human-goose conflicts and health and safety concerns” in areas with overabundant goose populations.

The now-paused initiative, first approved by the Natural Resources Commission in October, would have allowed landowners and local authorities to apply for permits to round up geese and their goslings during their flightless molting season in June and July, and euthanize them using portable gas chambers.

Critics, including 12 Democratic lawmakers who wrote to the commission in April, called the approach “disproportionate” and “inhumane,” arguing that most complaints centered on goose droppings at parks, golf courses, and lakeside communities.

“If allowed to proceed, the DNR… would annually round up potentially 10,000 or more Canada geese and their goslings in their natural habitat,” the lawmakers wrote. Among the signatories were Sens. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) and Sue Shink (D-Northfield Twp.), both members of the Senate Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee.

Bowen, a member of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration, said the department would continue to promote non-lethal control strategies, such as eliminating feeding, using scare tactics, and destroying nests.

Animal advocacy group In Defense of Animals welcomed the pause and had been encouraging residents to contact officials in opposition. “Michiganders have the power to stand up for geese and demand ethical, non-lethal management solutions,” the group said on its website.

Under the suspended plan, landowners would have paid a $200 non-refundable fee to apply for a permit, available only after demonstrating prior use of non-lethal methods.

“The DNR encourages tolerance and coexistence with Canada geese,” the department’s website states. “Capture and euthanasia should be considered a last resort.”

The announcement comes just ahead of the May 16 application deadline for euthanasia permits. With the pause now in effect, no such permits will be issued for the 2025 season.

Detroit news contributed to this article.