FAIRHOPE, Alabama—Maybe the city of Fairhope ought to consider giving the feds the boot instead of more of its beach-front geese.

Wildlife Services, the USDA’s division that rounds up geese, is the agency’s dirty little secret.

I ought to know. For two years I investigated the agency's abuse of power and mismanagement of geese populations coast to coast, and its enormous profits from geese round-ups. "Killing" contracts, they're called.

 McClatchy-Tribune News Service published the results of that investigation, in which a copy of a report obtained through a Freedom of Information request indicates that taxpayers are subsidizing a $125.6 million program that exterminates more than 5 million wild animals annually, including thousands of community geese, actions that alienate residents as they have in Fairhope.

The agency also prefers to operate in secret. Employees go into a community park under cover of darkness or at some obscure time when no is around so that no one can stage a protest. (That's not democracy in action.)

And now city officials are operating with equal stealth.

Why were some 40 geese "removed" from a city park/golf course to begin with? And why was it done without notifying residents beforehand? This is a community that has strong ties to its ducks and geese. How, for example, do volunteers that saved hundreds of waterfowl after the BP oil spill reconcile the removal of waterfowl that may have been among the birds they originally went to great lengths to rescue? 

And where were the geese shipped? To a hunting preserve where they'll eventually die anyway? Or were they gassed soon after capture?  Residents have a right to know. 

I suspect that the removal has a lot more to do with profit than poop.

During my investigation, the agency declined FOIA requests to say how much it gets from gassing the nation's geese, saying it does not keep such records. 

However, my research indicates that about 60 percent of the agency's overall budget comes from animal extermination contracts such as the highly controversial (FOIA-obtained) $100,000 New York City round-ups or last month's round-up in Birmingham, where the agency declined to disclose the cost of euthanizing 102 city geese and ducks. Taxpayer-based contracts ought to be a matter of public interest.

The reason given is also suspect. I question whether an Auburn University report lists geese as the main source of water contamination.

I could find no studies, including the agency's own, that identify geese feces as a health risk.

Geese are the cleanest of creatures, says noted waterfowl researcher Tim Ford, a vice president at the University of New England.

"They don't frequent dump sites or waste plants," he says. "In my opinion, people ought to be more concerned about the surface water used on golf courses than the presence of geese." 

Typically geese don't defecate in water, adds Jodi Minion, waterfowl specialist for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). 

"They prefer to leave their droppings on land. While rain might wash some of the droppings into waterways, geese feces isn't considered a primary source of water contamination." 

The agency seems to operate without conscience -- with no compassion or empathy either toward wildlife entrusted to its care -- or a public that overwhelmingly favors humane methods of resolving any conflicts.

The agency is also currently facing congressional investigation for widespread brutality and misuse of taxpayer funds out West.

A growing number of communities have also kicked the feds out, preferring to manage their geese themselves or enlist the help of the Humane Society of the U.S. or GeesePeace at little or no cost. There are also ways to keep geese away from a golf course without killing them.

Here's what I suggest:

--Insist that officials sever ties with this agency. City officials have let them get a foot in the door. Don't let it go further or the agency will be rounding up geese for years to come. 

Round-ups used to be confined to the molt, when geese are stationery and can't fly. Now the agency is capturing them year-round by enticing them with corn laced with a sedative that makes them sleepy.

If you see corn sprinkled with a white powdery substance, call the police and if you can, cordon off the area. Aside from being a threat to geese, the substance could also be harmful to young children or pets. Ask the police to remove the corn.

--Ask officials to hold a public forum and gather community support. Any decision should be a community effort, not something initiated by a federal agency whose prime motive is profit.

 --Take necessary steps to preserve what few geese we have. Compared to other parts of the nation, there are few geese in Alabama! 

Email me if you need help. I have contacts and information to guide you along the way. I also have a list of communities and their efforts to keep both the geese and the peace.

This isn't just a geese issue. It's a human issue that goes to the heart of good government and a federal fiefdom that has gone unchecked and unchallenged for too long.

Mary Lou Simms is a freelance investigative reporter from Helena, Ala., most recently working under a grant from The Fund for Investigative Journalism in Washington, D.C.

GeesePeace: info@geesepeace.com.

Peter Muller, president of the League of Humane Voters: petermuller@verizon.net.

The HSUS: Lynsey White Dasher, wildlife specialist, lwhite@humanesociety.org

EDITOR”S NOTE: The column by Simms ran in the Aug. 14 print edition of The Fairhope Courier. Later that day, the NBC affiliate TV station in Mobile, Alabama, reported that USDA had confirmed the geese from the Fairhope beach-front park were killed, not relocated.