Program Status:

• In 2025, received a 5-year resolution from the Lake Township Board – Complete

• Hired Goose Busters – Complete

• Received the 2026 permit from USDA Wildlife Services – Complete

• Goose Busters to perform service – Complete

• 2026 - Successfully removed 96 eggs and destroyed 18 nests.

• 2025 - Successfully removed 49 eggs and destroyed 10 nests.

• Continue to monitor geese population and program effectiveness - Ongoing

Canada Goose Mitigation Efforts (2/19/25 email – Important Updates from the BSLA Board)

The Canada goose population has exploded nationwide, in Michigan, and is of concern to residents on Big Star Lake.  With an overpopulation of Canadian geese on Big Star Lake, they’ve become a nuisance by creating unsightly and unhealthy (e.g. swimmer’s itch, E. coli, concerns about disease transmission of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus – Bird Flu, etc.) conditions with the droppings that they leave behind on our beaches, docks and lawns.

For nuisance geese, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has developed a resident Canada goose program that provides control options to address goose-human conflicts.  This program is designed to balance the benefits of geese along with the conflicts of geese to maintain an acceptable population for a site.

To resolve Big Star Lake’s nuisance geese issue, Michigan DNR recommends the Canada goose egg removal and nest destruction control method.  By minimizing reproduction, it’s the most humane method to control the geese population.  This method also encourages geese to abandon their nesting site and migrate North on what’s called a molt migration.

For lake management, Big Star Lake Association has partnered with the Michigan DNR, USDA-Wildlife Services and Lake Township to obtain a Canada goose egg removal and nest destruction permit for Big Star Lake.  Starting in the Spring of 2025, Big Star Lake Association will begin a multi-year Nuisance Geese Management (NGM) program that fully complies with the Michigan DNR rules and regulations.