What's up with Wusky? Lower Columbia River Resident Dark Goose Program Evaluation

SW Washington and NW Oregon are utilized as wintering grounds or stopover sites for six subspecies of Canada geese as well as home to one resident subspecies, the western Canada goose (Branta candadensis moffitti). One of the migrating subspecies, the dusky Canada goose (Branta candadensis occidentalis), has strict harvest restrictions. These restrictions are complicated by a small population of resident geese related to the harvest-restricted dusky goose that nest in the region and do not migrate to the nesting grounds in Alaska. These resident dark geese (RDG or locally called "wusky") were introduced to Willapa NWR through a Canada goose breeding flock expansion program in the 1950s-1970s.

In 1987 an RDG pair and brood were observed nesting on Miller Sands Island in the lower Columbia River and expansion of the flock in this area soon followed. Cases of hunting permit invalidations began to take place; a hunter's reported harvest seemed likely to be from the RDG flock, yet the subspecies was identified as dusky at the check station. Furthermore, concerns arose that RDG were mistakenly identified as dusky geese during monitoring surveys, thus impacting population estimates.

As a result of these concerns a more extensive management program with the goals of decreasing the RDG population and lessening misidentification was established in the mid-2000s. This evaluation focuses on the results of those efforts