Waterfowl overpopulation and associated problems at Woodland Park were the focus of a work session this week that included the Kalispell City Council, Parks and Recreation Department officials and Montana Fish,Wildlife and Parks.

The council is looking into possible options to address concerns with the geese, ducks and hybrid birds in the park. City Manager Doug Russell said the city particularly is concerned with “the welcoming nature of the park and some of the challenges that we face.” No decisions have been made yet.

Some see the growing population of waterfowl in Woodland Park as one of these challenges. Russell and Kalispell Parks and Recreation Director Chad Fincher discussed a variety of issues, including threats to the animals’ health from inbreeding and artificial feeding, degradation of the pond quality from overpopulation, sanitation issues from the bird feces and conflicts with humans.

Russell said there has been a lot of public feedback over the years about, “the cleanliness and the amount of waterfowl and what that population also leads to in terms of the cleanliness of the areas along some of the sidewalks [and] some of the general play areas.”

Dillon Tabish, spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 1 provided additional information about the issues and the options to address them.

“We’re looking at ways to kind of control both populations to make it a clean, healthy environment, both for the migratory birds and for the people attending the park,” Fincher said.

Options include reducing public feeding, capture and euthanasia, addling or oiling the eggs, removing eggs, installing flashing beacons to disturb their sleep or transplanting them to farms or other possible locations.

Fincher and the council discussed the pros and cons of the various proposals at the work session, but he said capture and euthanasia is “the one that is favored by Fish, Wildlife and Parks” because the results would be immediate and the process would be less labor-intensive than other solutions.

Council members asked for clarification about the waterfowl population and the various proposals and they suggested additional alternatives, such as adding a dog park to scare off some of the birds or offering adoption days for locals to adopt some of the animals.

Three Kalispell residents spoke about the proposed initiatives. All three commenters agreed there is a waterfowl problem in Woodland Park, although they suggested different potential remedies. One person suggested installing signs about the adverse health impacts of artificial feeding, while another said signs aren’t effective enough and she would like to see more public education efforts, such as a tour through the park to talk to visitors about the wildlife.

In Woodland Park on Thursday, park users expressed more mixed responses to the waterfowl population and the council’s ideas. One group of people in town from Bigfork said they stopped in the park specifically to see the birds and feed them bird feed, and they would be disappointed if they were euthanized or the population was interfered with.

“I’d like to see them stay,” said Phil Schuman, before unloading a large bag of bird feed from his trunk and distributing it to the eager birds.

“They look so hungry,” added Brenda Schuman. She pointed out geese and ducks are “not like chickens” with regard to their behavior toward humans and their droppings, so she said, “I don’t really see that as an issue.”

But other park visitors were more concerned. Melissa Utley said she and her 3-year-old son Eli and her 5-year-old daughter Samantha come to Woodland Park on a weekly basis in the summer. She said she had noticed the animals are “a little aggressive” and well-conditioned to approach humans looking for food.

“I personally don’t feed them, as fun as it is,” Utley said, but she reported she had seen two or three people stop to feed them during her hour-long visit to the park on Thursday.

She said the feces around the park is also a big concern for her, especially when it comes to keeping her toddler clean, and she added she worries about the birds’ health as well.

“I’m not sure what the answer is,” she admitted, but said she felt euthanasia seemed a little extreme. She hopes a solution will focus on increasing public education first.

“I like the idea of [being] as less invasive as you have to be,” she said.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.