ARTIFICIAL NEST MAINTENANCE

U.S. Forest Service helps Dusky Canada Geese survive in a changing environment

Story by Thompson Bain and Owen Schatz

Photos by Thompson Bain

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The Copper River Delta is home to the Dusky Canada Goose. It’s one of two homes. They spend the summers in the Copper River Delta and the winters at the Fern Ridge Reservoir just west of Eugene, Oregon. The landscape of the environment in which they live is made up of sloughs, wetlands, and lakes.  Maintaining the Dusky Goose population is something the U.S. Forest Service does on a daily basis every summer, with the use of artificial nesting islands.

 

These plastic nests are approximately six feet in diameter with floats underneath, which are then attached to two steel cables anchoring them to the bottom of the lakes.  The cables are just long enough to allow for some natural movement within the water.  The tub-like shape of the nests provides enough depth for soil and vegetation to grow and root properly.

 

Evan Standifer and Nathan Boma, Forest Service employees, spent July 19th doing island maintenance, travelling an hour by airboat to Pete Dahl Slough, where the southernmost nests are located.  To get to the actual location of the nests, they pull kayaks, shovels and paddles on foot through the thick brush that surrounds the central lakes.  Once they bushwhacked their way to the lake, they kayaked and trudged through water and thick horsetail reeds to reach the Dusky islands.

 

After inspecting an island -- its makeup and plant growth -- they decide what is needed to make it more habitable.  Typically, this means digging grass and unwanted shrubs off the island and replacing those areas with the bushy shrub Sweetgale. The sweetgale is dug up from the wetland surrounding the lake, and then is transported back to the islands needing it.  The sweetgale is dug very deep to include the roots, so it can successfully grow on the island.

 

The mix of long leaves and dark green to grayish foliage provide the dusky goose a perfect home for seasons to come. On this trip Standifer and Boma visited three islands, which required bushwhacking to two separate lakes, which took over seven hours. While the task is strenuous and time consuming, it is necessary for the survival and population of the Dusky Goose.

 

Following the 9.2 magnitude Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, centered halfway between Anchorage and Valdez, northwest of the Copper River Delta, the Copper River Delta tidal flats rose an average of six feet. This sudden and drastic change significantly transformed this nesting habitat by altering waterways and allowing predators access to nesting areas they couldn’t access before. The rise in predators, resulted in a threat to the population of dusky geese. These floating islands are harder for eagles and other predators to harm the geese and are more stable to changing environments.  By installing over 300 artificial nests around the Copper River Delta since 1984, the Forest Service continues to maintain a healthy population of Dusky Geese.

 

"This sudden and drastic change significantly transformed this nesting habitat by altering waterways and allowing predators access to nesting areas they couldn’t access before."

The Copper River Delta is home to the Dusky Canada Goose. It’s one of two homes. They spend the summers in the Copper River Delta and the winters at the Fern Ridge Reservoir just west of Eugene, Oregon. The landscape of the environment in which they live is made up of sloughs, wetlands, and lakes.  Maintaining the Dusky Goose population is something the U.S. Forest Service does on a daily basis every summer, with the use of artificial nesting islands.

 

These plastic nests are approximately six feet in diameter with floats underneath, which are then attached to two steel cables anchoring them to the bottom of the lakes.  The cables are just long enough to allow for some natural movement within the water.  The tub-like shape of the nests provides enough depth for soil and vegetation to grow and root properly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evan Standifer and Nathan Boma, Forest Service employees, spent July 19th doing island maintenance, travelling an hour by airboat to Pete Dahl Slough, where the southernmost nests are located.  To get to the actual location of the nests, they pull kayaks, shovels and paddles on foot through the thick brush that surrounds the central lakes.  Once they bushwhacked their way to the lake, they kayaked and trudged through water and thick horsetail reeds to reach the Dusky islands.

 

After inspecting an island -- its makeup and plant growth -- they decide what is needed to make it more habitable.  Typically, this means digging grass and unwanted shrubs off the island and replacing those areas with the bushy shrub Sweetgale. The sweetgale is dug up from the wetland surrounding the lake, and then is transported back to the islands needing it.  The sweetgale is dug very deep to include the roots, so it can successfully grow on the island

 

The mix of long leaves and dark green to grayish foliage provide the dusky goose a perfect home for seasons to come. On this trip Standifer and Boma visited three islands, which required bushwhacking to two separate lakes, which took over seven hours. While the task is strenuous and time consuming, it is necessary for the survival and population of the Dusky Goose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following the 9.2 magnitude Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, centered halfway between Anchorage and Valdez, northwest of the Copper River Delta, the Copper River Delta tidal flats rose an average of six feet. This sudden and drastic change significantly transformed this nesting habitat by altering waterways and allowing predators access to nesting areas they couldn’t access before. The rise in predators, resulted in a threat to the population of dusky geese. These floating islands are harder for eagles and other predators to harm the geese and are more stable to changing environments.  By installing over 300 artificial nests around the Copper River Delta since 1984, the Forest Service continues to maintain a healthy population of Dusky Geese.