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Written wildlife management policy isn't likely for Mill Creek MetroParks
Local group continues to push park officials to develop no-kill rules
YOUNGSTOWN
A measure that members of a local wildlife group have pushed the Mill Creek MetroParks leadership to implement isn’t likely to happen, park officials say.
Save the Wildlife in Mill Creek Park, a group formed in the wake of the park system’s euthanization of 238 geese last year, continues to push for a written wildlife management policy that would detail procedures for park staff members to follow in the park system’s management of its various wildlife species.
“We have been very clear from our first meeting that we wanted a written policy, because the way we see it, it’s truly a win-win,” said group member Gina Centofanti.
“I don’t see why there’s resistance to written policy for wildlife management. ... I wish they would be in agreement with us. I don’t see how it’s anything but beneficial to everybody involved,” she said.
At a June 30 board meeting at which the board voted 3-2 to put a 15-year levy renewal with additional millage on the November ballot, Centofanti spoke, saying her group wants to support the levy but that implementation of a written policy would be a condition of their support.
As far as what that policy should look like, Centofanti and her group want the park system to explicitly stipulate that it will not use lethal methods to manage wildlife, and they want documentation of the methods used.
Mill Creek MetroParks Executive Director Aaron Young, however, says the park leadership has no plans to implement such a policy.
“I don’t believe it’s in the best interests of Mill Creek MetroParks to limit our abilities to manage these natural resources,” he said in an interview.
Young, who took over the position in January, says that while the park does not have its own policy, it, like every other park in the state, follows state regulations set by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
He would, however, like to see the park system make better use of scientific methods to study wildlife populations, and then base management practices on those findings.
He also believes that the park’s practices do not greatly differ from what wildlife activists want, saying ODNR’s recommended practices are similar to those recommended by The Humane Society of the United States.
This year, the park system used ODNR-recommended methods of goose management such as educating the public about not feeding the wildlife, nest destruction, harassment and egg addling. The park did not use lethal methods.
“That’s the last thing you would want to do,” Young said. “But there are some instances where it comes to that. ... Implementing any policy that limits our ability as an organization to manage wildlife is not something we’re going to be an active proponent of.”
“I am a proponent of following procedures, and I am a proponent of lethal means of management being a last option,” he said.
For Save the Wildlife in Mill Creek Park, however, that’s not enough.
“That’s not really going to be acceptable, unless they can prove that everything else they tried hadn’t worked,” Centofanti said.
Some members of the public criticized park system leadership last year for not being open with the public about the plan to euthanize geese. Young said he doesn’t foresee that being an issue in the future.
“I think communicating openly and honestly is what we’ve addressed from the time I got here,” he said.