BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — More than 50 Canada geese roam freely around Bloomsburg Town Park. A lot of people like seeing them, but others don't like the mess the geese leave behind.
Earlier this year, the Bloomsburg Town Council voted to participate in a program overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to euthanize some of the birds and donate the meat to food banks. But recently, the USDA decided to postpone the roundup and revisit the idea next year.
Dawn Moore and Monty Hittle are part of the Save the Geese group in Bloomsburg. They have attended council meetings, and Moore checks on the geese almost every day.
"I'm obviously super excited. I came down to be like, 'Yay, geese, we saved you!'" Moore said. "I think it could have been part of our outcry. The people really love these geese."
According to the USDA, the town should take certain steps to manage the geese, such as non-lethal harassment and enforcing a strict no-feeding policy at the park.
Moore plans to start a goose task force where volunteers will help pick up droppings.
"There's the tow and collect machine that they can put behind their mower and pick up the goose poop themselves. It's good fertilizer, and they can put it at the compost place, and people can pick it up. We want to get educational signs put up about the geese if they'll allow it, of course," said Moore.
"I want them to take killing the geese off the table completely, not delay it for another year. Because then all of us that are involved in it must go through it all over again. We want peace of mind knowing that the geese are going to be safe," Hittle said.
Monday night, Bloomsburg Town Council voted not the euthanize the geese next year either.
People who led pro-geese rallies say the effort was worth it.
At Monday night's meeting, speakers asked council to form a "Goose Task Force" to help tackle any fowl-related issues in Bloomsburg.
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