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The Aleutian Goose is Back

The Aleutian Goose, an occasional visitor in Sonoma County, is the latest bird conservation success story. A mallard-size subspecies of the Canada Goose, it has the typical black neck/head and white cheek strap, plus a distinctive 5/8-inch white band around the base of its neck.

The Aleutian was one of the first species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Now, lauding conservation efforts in the bird's nesting areas, migration routes, and wintering range near Modesto, officials have announced plans to remove it from the list.

Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt called it a classic story of man rising to undo the bad that man had done.

The Aleutian was decimated in the early 1900s after fur farmers and trappers introduced foxes on the remote Alaskan islands where it nested. It was thought extinct until 1962, when biologists found one small population. The first accurate count in 1975 found 790 individuals. The most recent count: 32,000.

Here is how it was done:

· Foxes were removed from the breeding island (this helped puffins, murres, and auklets too).

· Families of the geese were taken to distant fox-free islands, and several became established nesting sites.

· The nesting geese were banded to identify important migration routes and wintering areas.

· Government wildlife agencies in Washington, Oregon, and California expanded refuges and imposed a variety of restrictions on the hunting of Canada geese in the Aleutians' migration and wintering areas

· In the San Joaquin Valley, the US Fish and Wildlife Service worked with local landowners to protect and manage wintering habitat. Some plant grain to supplement the geese's natural diet of grass shoots. Some have their cattle graze grasslands on a schedule that ensures the geese plenty of tender, high-protein shoots. This replicates the historic grazing of long-gone Tule Elk and Pronghorn Antelope, officials say, and helps Sandhill Cranes, Burrowing Owls, Mountain Plover, and Curlews in addition to the Aleutians.

Where to See Them

The San Joaquin River and San Luis National Wildlife Refuges both cater to the Aleutians.

John Fulton, public use manager for the refuges, says the Aleutians are always around the San Joaquin River refuge, eight miles west of Modesto, from December through February. Check in the fields on the north side of Highway 132 and on the south side of Beckwith Road, two miles west of Gates Road.

The Aleutians migrate northward in March. A pair was seen near Lakeville last year, and there have been other occasional sightings in the county in recent years, according to veteran observer Mike Parmeter.

The Aleutians spend about a month on Castle Crag, an island offshore from Crescent City in Trinity County. They swarm ashore each day to fuel up on grass, storing energy for their long flight across to the Aleutians and reserves for egg laying when they arrive. Last March, Crescent City saluted them with its First Annual Aleutian Canada Goose Festival.

What De-listing Means

If the Aleutians are de-listed, biologists will monitor them for five years. Then, if they make as full a recovery as expected, sports hunting of them probably will be permitted.
November 3 is the deadline for public comment on the proposal to de-list the Aleutian Canada Goose. Address: USFWS Ecological Services/Anchorage, 605 West Fourth Avenue, Room G62, Anchorage, Alaska 99501.