While driving through Skagit Valley in the winter, travelers see open fields blanketed in white. Soon they realize this covering is not from snowfall. A low echoing call rises in the distance and a wave of white fills the air. In a split second, the sky is hidden from view as tens of thousands of birds fly overhead, linger in the air and then land to reorganize their heavy flock.
Every winter, a population of the Lesser Snow Goose migrates to Skagit County from Wrangel Island, Russia. The birds seek relief from the bitter temperatures of their frozen homeland and draw hunters and wildlife enthusiasts who wish to see these massive flocks. Their plumage is almost completely white except for black wing tips. Often the birds have a rusty orange face, stained by iron in the earth where they feed. In recent years this flock’s population, which was once dwindling, has exploded, causing problems for local farmers and leaving many of the birds’ admirers wondering if their continued population increase will eventually lead to their destruction.
Maynard Axelson is a Skagit County resident who studies the Lesser Snow Goose, and has visited their arctic breeding grounds. He said humans are the main contributors to the population problem.
"A lot of it is our fault for providing food," Axelson said. "It’s not intentional, but we’re tipping things out of balance."
Axelson, who speaks to Audubon groups, founded the Washington Brant Foundation in 2001, which is dedicated to protecting the Brant Goose. He said snow geese are accustomed to the food available to them in Skagit County. Their arctic habitat is a harsh existence because their food source lacks nutrients. When the geese migrate to places such as Fir Island on the Skagit River delta, they are exposed to farm crops that give them more energy and larger fat reserves. This allows the snow geese to return to their breeding grounds earlier and lay more eggs, Axelson said.
Their ability to adapt is demonstrated by the birds’ behavioral change in recent years. Axelson said the geese traditionally grazed on greenery, but learned to spend days at a time in dirt fields digging potatoes and other crops out of the ground. They also stopped spending their evenings on the water and now remain on land all night to feed.
"These birds have responded so well to opportunities here," Axelson said. "It’s almost too much of a good thing."
Warming arctic temperatures result in longer breeding seasons for the snow geese, which also contributes to the overpopulation problem, he said.
The geese leave Wrangel Island in late August, stop in Alaska and then the Fraser River delta in Canada. They arrive at the Skagit River delta in October, Axelson said. Some of the population continues on to California, but the majority flies back and forth between the two river deltas, and returns to breeding grounds in early April.
The amount of geese migrating to Skagit County ballooned from 30,000 to 120,000 in the last 40 years, Axelson said.
The geese draw wildlife enthusiasts and contribute to Skagit Valley’s revenue each winter. Claudia Young, who works at the La Conner, Wash. Chamber of Commerce, said she witnesses the effects of the birds first-hand.
"The geese contribute to our tourism a great deal," Young said. "The word gets out about the massive flocks and people love to come and see them."
According to Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Skagit population suffered two decades ago when several years of harsh arctic summer weather caused the loss of numerous goslings.
In response to this decline, the state created the Fir Island Hayton Snow Goose Reserve, and set a minimum maturity for hunting geese, requiring a large percentage of the population to be juveniles, according to Fish and Wildlife.
Now overpopulated, the flocks are depleting their arctic habitats by overgrazing. According to an article by Mike Johnson of the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, overgrazing in nesting grounds in Northern Canada has led to erosion of topsoil needed to support plant life. As populations continue to increase, more habitats will be destroyed.
"Any damage done to the arctic could take 25 years to come back," Axelson said. "[The habitat] takes forever to heal itself. As the geese become more overpopulated they will eventually push out other species."
Damage to the arctic is not the only issue of concern. Mike Davison, the district wildlife biologist for Fish and Wildlife said crop destruction from the birds is a major problem for farmers in Skagit Valley. Farmers plant cover crops at the end of harvest to prevent the run-off of soil nutrients. They keep the cover crop over the winter, then till it back into the ground before planting the standard crop in the spring, Axelson said.
"It’s really the birds that pay the price," Davison said. "The landowners get frustrated and chase them off their land."
Davison said reserves, like the one on Fir Island, are attempts to give the snow geese a designated area to live. However, he said no swift action can solve the current population problem.
"Currently, the snow goose population is growing at a rate that exceeds anything we can do in terms of harvesting the geese or population control right now," Davison said.
He said future solutions may include working with landowners to increase goose hunting and extending the hunting season, which normally lasts from October to January.
For the 2006 to 2007 snow goose hunting season 3,500 to 3,700 hunters registered, said Doug Huddle, the Fir Island snow goose quality hunt coordinator. Registration and kill reports are mandatory for those who hunt the geese, he said.
This year, a new program will allow for more control over snow goose hunting techniques around Fir Island, and helps lessen the negative effects the geese have had on residents’ property. The Quality Hunt Program lasts 12 weeks and involves opening private property for snow goose hunting, Huddle said, who will oversee the program.
"The responses from island residents have been overwhelmingly favorable," Huddle said. "We were able to introduce the opportunity to hunt snow geese to those who had never attempted before."
Programs like the Quality Hunt Program are important for population control, Axelson said. As a man with a deep love and admiration for the species, he said he also realizes the important role hunters play in ensuring the survival of the geese. He said the rivalry between birders and hunters is puzzling.
"Birders will argue they don’t want to see the birds hurt and that they don’t injure them," Axelson said. "But hunters are the first to open their wallet to contribute donation dollars for the birds. Hunting is definitely part of the equation. They both love birds, so why can’t we all work together to help them?"
The wave of white that so many birders enjoy grows each year. This spectacular sight is a result of human-induced overpopulation, devastation and the need for control. The geese learned to thrive in Skagit Valley, but a solution must be reached before the birds are deprived of their way of life and the valley loses them.