One could say there’s no more fowl play in Kalispell’s Woodland Park.

Following recent discussions among city and state wildlife officials about how to handle the overpopulation of waterfowl in the popular park, the Humane Society of Northwest Montana and Montana Wild Wings Recovery Center took matters into their own hands late last week, staging a massive, impromptu adoption event where volunteers rounded up all of the “problem” birds and gave them to adoptive owners.

For years, park users have lamented the overpopulation of waterfowl in the park. Ducks, geese and mixed-breed “frankenbirds” have raised concerns about human conflicts, feces accumulation and water quality in the pond.

On Feb. 10, the Kalispell City Council held a work session with the Kalispell Parks and Recreation Department and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to discuss the issue of waterfowl overpopulation in Woodland Park. City staff considered a variety of potential remedies, but the option favored by the state agency was capture and euthanasia of the few hundred birds that have made Woodland Park their home.

No decision was made at the work session, but this proposal didn’t sit well with some local bird lovers. The intervention event started Friday afternoon with little advance notice and no official word from Kalispell city officials. The adoptions continued Saturday morning.

“It was phenomenal the response from the community in addressing it in such a quick fashion,” Fincher commented.

Migratory waterfowl—such as Canada geese, wood ducks and mallards—are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and therefore weren’t available for adoption. These birds can still be found in Woodland Park.

Fincher said the overpopulation and artificial feeding have disrupted some of these protected animals’ migration patterns, so he hopes the thinned population will help the local migratory birds get back on track with their normal migrations.

The rest of the Woodland Park waterfowl were adopted out to residents around the Flathead Valley. Fincher said most of the adoptive owners are farmers who wanted to use the geese and ducks to scare off skunks or predators from their properties. There was no formal vetting process for bird adoptions; however, Kalispell municipal code does not allow residents to have fowl besides chickens within the Kalispell city limits.

“They’re giving them a life outside Woodland Park,” Fincher said of the bird adopters. “I think the community’s hearts are in the right place.”

Even though the bird adoptions were not an official city-coordinated event, Fincher said Parks and Recreation staff provided those interested with advice on the best way to catch wild birds, and staff members were present during the adoption days as well.

The city has always allowed adoptions of Woodland Park waterfowl, but before this event Fincher said they typically adopted out about six to 10 birds every year. He said this trend, “wasn’t keeping up with the population growth down there.”

Moving forward, city staff and FWP will continue to discuss the environment in Woodland Park and the possibilities for the wildlife there in the future. Fincher said the Kalispell City Council still needs to decide what to do about regulating the feeding of existing birds there, and the city might pursue grant opportunities to improve the pond water quality, now that a big pollutant has largely been removed. The council also needs to think about upcoming plans in case the population grows again. Following Easter, Fincher pointed out, people sometimes release chicks into places like Woodland Park.

But he said, “The first step was to deal with the overpopulation, which seems to have happened. The hardest part is done now.”

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