Duck, duck, goose!
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme- mso-fareast- mso-fareast-theme- mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme- mso-bidi- mso-bidi-theme-}
Canada geese like the Hudson Valley. They have become regulars here, often staying year-round without bothering to fly any farther south than the towers of the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The fact that the geese have made a home in Stewart Park, the 6,700-acre tract that adjoins Stewart International Airport, has raised serious cause for concern, particularly after U.S. Airways ditched a flight in the Hudson River in January after a run-in with a flock of geese.
William Janeway, director for the Department of Environmental Conservation”™s Region 3, came to New Windsor to address the Stewart Airport Commission on Tuesday, March 31, in response to growing concern over nesting areas in the adjacent parkland.
Janeway let SAC members and the public know that Canada geese and deer are two of all airports”™ biggest problems and they are not going to let them go gently into the night. (At upstate”™s Ogdensburg International Airport in 2005 a private jet collided with a coyote, killing the animal and damaging the plane.)
Lethal force will be used, said Janeway, to rid Stewart of the potential threat of the birds. Hunters will be encouraged to use Stewart Forest to its maximum potential during hunting season.
Janeway told board members that several southern Orange County communities have become overrun with geese, particularly in the Monroe-Woodbury-Harriman area, and measures to coat eggs with oil or use noise to reduce the population or scare them off have not been very successful. “Lethal force to rid the area of Canada geese is not out of the question,” said Janeway. The birds, in other words, are expendable.Â
Others are not, however, said Janeway, including  bobolinks and red tanagers, which do not fly in the chevron formations of the geese and aren”™t an issue for airports. “Human safety is our number one concern,” Janeway assured the SAC, but these breeds do not impede airline safety.Â
Janeway”™s agency, which manages the state park, also reassured Walt Schneider, a volunteer fireman from Coldenham, that roads inside the state park will be kept free from debris and that work is ongoing.
Schneider told Janeway that a plane that recently ditched in the forest was nearly inaccessible due to the overgrowth and downed trees on many of the parks maze of roadways. He also let Janeway and the SAC know the deer population within the park is “exploding” and spreading out to residential areas.
Sandra Kissam, president of SPARC (Stewart Park Coalition), praised the DEC and its partners, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Transportation, for their combined efforts to ensure safety at the airport while maintaining wildlife that does not pose a threat to passenger safety.
Diannae Ehler, the airport”™s manager, apprised SAC of its new five-year contract with AvPorts, which maintains daily operations at Stewart and let the panel know the Port Authority is encouraging local businesses to register to vie for for new projects coming to the airport.
The PA plans to spend between $15 million and $20 million this year in airport upgrades. Work on the electric grid for idling airplanes has already begun.
“We were very disappointed that out of 22 bids to replace the roof on the main terminal, only two came from local contractors,” said Ehler. She hopes local construction associations will nudge members to get involved in the bidding process.
Ehler also told SAC Stewart expects to see approximately 400,000 passengers in 2009 ”“ fewer than half its peak of two years ago ”“ and noted that U.S. Airways in Kennedy has cut its flight to Las Vegas. She said, “Travelers are definitely looking for places to go that will not break the bank, and this cut U.S. Airways made is a perfect example.”
Ehler said the PA Web site (www.panynj.gov) has a site dedicated to hotels, bed and breakfasts and historic sites in the Hudson Valley for people looking for a place to stay and things to do.
“The Hudson Valley is a destination loaded with history, charm and beauty and is a great vacation destination,” said Ehler. Now, the goal is to get consumers to start taking advantage of the airport for its proximity to the region”™s milieu of attractions.