LAKE COUNTY — The county supervisors Tuesday became the latest people to weigh in on recent goose-culling activities in incorporated Lakeport.
The Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted in favor of sending letters to city, state and federal officials to “express concern” in the wake of the population-reduction efforts.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen confirmed May 1 that at his request, officials from the California Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services conducted a “handful” of nighttime operations between January and early last week to thin the city”s feral goose population.
Officials involved in those operations, during which guns were used to kill some of the geese, were on boats and land, and Lakeport Police Department personnel checked for people near the shoreline beforehand, Rasmussen said.
Roughly 70 to 80 Graylag geese were killed, according to the chief.
Rasmussen indicated he was driven by public safety concerns related to the feral birds, including that they can carry harmful diseases.
Additionally, the city received a number of complaints last summer and fall about aggressive geese and excessive feces in Library Park, and “reducing the population” was presented as an option after relocation was deemed infeasible, Rasmussen said.
County Supervisor Anthony Farrington, whose district includes Lakeport, said he in turn received complaints from people after news of the culling operations became public last week.
As a result, a letter was drafted and considered Tuesday morning during the regular BOS meeting at the Lake County Courthouse.
The letter stated the BOS believes “that more humane alternatives may be available which do not involve killing these animals, on-site, with firearms.”
The correspondence also urged for more public communication before such activities take place. The county was not told about the culling operations beforehand.
Lakeport Mayor Stacey Mattina sent a letter to BOS Chair Rob Brown last week, reading in part, “Future endeavors by one entity that could impact the other should be communicated.”
Mattina”s letter also stated, “The culling has ended and no such project is planned for a future date. We are currently debriefing, evaluating and critiquing our actions.”
The BOS voted 4-1 on Tuesday to send letters to the city, Fish and Game, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior. Brown dissented.
Farrington confirmed Wednesday that USDA Wildlife Services, not the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, would receive the letter.
In other business, the BOS received an update about the search for a Lake County one-stop provider for the recently created Napa-Lake Workforce Investment Board.
The supervisors learned Mendocino Private Industry Council, Inc. (MPIC) is currently in contract negotiations to become the new provider following the selection process earlier this year.
MPIC would replace Lake One-Stop, Inc. as the contracted provider.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing presented a proclamation declaring the current week as Travel and Tourism Week in Lake County.
Farrington read a decree designating May as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month. Representatives of the Mother-Wise program were among those on hand for the presentation.
