I recently wrote in How The Wolves Have Changed Yellowstone on the positive impacts the increased wolf population has had on other species at Yellowstone. A number of articles written over the last several years discuss how efforts to save snow geese may have been too successful and has had negative impacts on other species. The New York Times just published Facing Consequences of Success in Bid to Save a Goose. They discuss how the greatly increased snow goose population is now competing with and pushing other waterfowl species out of marsh areas. Wildlife officials are exploring ways to control the snow goose population such as relaxing controls on goose hunting. However, there are concerns that increased hunting could also negatively impact other waterfowl and would be inadequate anyway. Read more in the New York Times Facing Consequences of Success in Bid to Save a Goose.
Related articles
- Snow Goose Festival January 26-29, 2012 (naturalhistorywanderings.com)
Natural History Wanderings 
It looks like an excuse to run a story on snow geese. The last sentence in the article seemed to sum it all up: “Things are always in flux.” Before the wolves changed Yellowstone, *people* had changed it by wiping out the wolves and creating an “elk problem”. To say there are “too many geese” seems highly suspect. Maybe there’s “too little habitat”.
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By: John W. on January 2, 2012
at 8:07 AM
You are absolutely right about too little habitat. Compared to what there once was in the central valley, we only have a fraction of the original habitat.
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By: Sandy Steinman on January 2, 2012
at 9:41 AM