A homeowners association (HOA) in a community north of UB’s North Campus tried to cull the neighborhood’s geese for population control this summer.
At least 25 residents opposed, resulting in a pause of the program for now.
Residents of The Preserve at Muir Woods property received an email from its HOA’s board of directors on April 2 that said the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) would be implementing a voluntary culling program — informally known as a “round up” — to “help manage local goose populations.”
“Over time, the increasing number of geese has raised concerns for some residents related to property use, maintenance and overall impact on the neighborhood,” the email read.
According to the email, the program would be limited strictly to those who opted in. Anyone interested were to complete a consent form and return it to the HOA by May 31, with the USDA scheduling the culling program for a weekday between June 15 and July 3. The geese meat that resulted from the culling would be donated to local food banks.
A USDA grant funded the program and would be no cost to the association, the email stated.
Joanne McLaughlin, a UB economics professor and resident, called the program “inhumane.” The petition lists reasons why residents do not wish for the program to proceed, including the timing of the culling. The proposed time frame overlaps with the geese's molting season — the four-week period when geese lose their flight feathers. Some residents believe this was intentional, which further outrages them.
“It’s really sad, the fact that they’re killing them in June and July when they cannot fly,” said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin had sent a letter with around 25 signatures from other residents attached to it to the association urging it to pause the program.
“We could remove every goose every year, and geese will still come to this neighborhood. We live next to a lake. That is simply the reality of this place - a reality that every one of us accepted when we chose to move to The Preserve at Muir Woods,” the letter said. “This community deserves a full and transparent conversation before irreversible action is taken against the wildlife that makes this neighborhood what it is.”
Steve Kepner, another resident, says most residents were not involved in the decision at all — a situation that happens often.
“We don’t have any say. We just get a message saying that ‘This is what we’re doing,’” Kepner said. “It’s voted on amongst four people out of the whole community.”
“We don’t have any say, we just get a message saying that this is what we’re doing. It’s kind of voted on amongst four people out of the whole community,” Kepner said.
The neighborhood is approximately a 4-minute drive away from Aspen Buffalo, a popular student housing complex. Because of the proximity, McLaughlin says that students should have been allowed to weigh in on the matter.
Janeeta Ashimi, a junior economics major and student of McLaughlin's, found out about the program from her professor. Ashimi called the HOA’s plan “cruel and unethical.” She, along with McLaughlin, reached out to UB's Audubon Club and made awareness flyers.
“The situation that the HOA is facing and their proposed solution to it is very unjust,” Ashimi said. “Not straightforward, and pretty vague about how they’re explaining it. And it is inhumane.”
Flocks of geese are a common sight in Buffalo, including UB. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has estimated more than 600 geese return to UB each spring.
In 2016, the university hired a local company, Borders on Patrol, that trained border collies, a common herding dog, to chase geese off of the campuses to make the areas less appealing. The university continued with the program until 2024, after which Borders on Patrol didn’t renew its contract with UB. Despite that, UB was able to find a new method of geese population management and now uses a plant-based application to treat areas around Lake LaSalle and Broadview Stadium (formerly UB Stadium).
“While the geese can be a public nuisance on campus, the university has sought to manage the problem in a humane way,” wrote the university in a statement sent to The Spectrum.
A small group of residents emailed the Amherst Town Supervisor, Shawn Lavin, on April 9 asking about town regulations, but are still waiting for a response. The Spectrum was unable to get in contact with him.
The program is paused as of April 24 for “continued observation of conditions within the community and for further discussions with the USDA to explore additional options should the issues persist,” said an HOA email sent out to residents on Friday, April 24.
The association said the USDA presented the program as the “only option available to us at that time, noting it as a cost-effective, state-supported approach.”
“We appreciate the thoughtful input from residents across the community,” Friday’s email said. “As part of our role, we will continue to gather information and share relevant updates as we learn more about matters that impact our neighborhood.”
The Board of Directors for the Preserve at Muir Woods’ HOA did not respond to The Spectrum’s request for comment.
“The most alarming thing about the letter was the wording that they used, that they’re gonna postpone it, which means that they’ll leave it on the table for the future” said Kepner.
Although this situation fared favorably for residents who opposed the program, those in favor are left to find new ways of dealing with the geese.
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com.
