After the bird strike that downed a U.S. Airways flight on Jan. 15, 2009, wildlife experts claim they were summarily excluded from discussions in how best to manage the geese in New York City green spaces, and that had they been included they never would have supported this summer’s massacre of Prospect Park’s beloved geese, according to an article in the Brooklyn Paper:
At that point, “the Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services [became] more aggressive, and more effective, than the variety of non-lethal measures that had been used at both airports for many years,” said Bryan Swift, the leader of the game bird unit for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
..Experts from the two organizations most actively involved in pre-crash discussions with goose policy makers – Geese Peace and the Humane Society – say they have barely spoken to government agencies since the “Miracle on the Hudson.”
“We are sick and tired of hearing them claim to have included us in the process” of goose control, said Laura Simon, the urban wildlife director with the Humane Society. “We’re very frustrated. They have not included us in the decision-making process.”
Read the whole article here.
