Concerned Residents,

My name is Paul Fetter, and I am proud to be serving as the President of the Clarksville Town
Council. I appreciate and share your concern regarding our geese situation at Clarksville Town
Hall. Euthanizing the geese was not result that any of us would have preferred, but it was the only
option with our dire population issues. Relocation is ineffective for resident Canada geese, as
these were.

We have a responsibility for the safety of the citizens who live near Town Hall, those who visit Town
Hall to conduct business, as well as those who serve our community by working at Town
Hall. Difficult decisions needed to be made to protect their well-being.

We want our residents to have all the facts, so lets take a quick look at the numbers.

A single goose creates 1.5 pounds of feces per day.

Geese removed 236
Feces per day x 1.5 lbs
Month x 31 days
Pounds of feces per month 10,974 lbs

So to summarize, the 236 Geese that were removed created 5 tons of feces a month, creating a
severe health hazard. Geese even in small numbers introduce bacteria, funguses, parasites and
viruses into the environment as the following:
Bacteria: e-coli, salmonella, campylobacter jejuni, chlamydiosiand pasturella multocida
Fungus: histoplasmosis
Parasites: cryptosporidium, giardia, toxoplasma gondii and many others
Viruses: avian Influenza and various encephalitic viruses

The large numbers of geese at Town Hall were also aggressive, even attacking some visitors, and
caused severe environmental damage (approximately $200,000 to Town hall property). Adding to
the problem are area residents who continuously ignore posted signs, which ask them not to feed
the ducks/geese.

I have been serving our community since elected for the first time in 2012. Clarksville officials had
been working on geese issues for more than a decade, well before I even took office. During that
time, town leaders have tried nearly every option available, with little to no effect. We also
contacted other communities facing similar geese issues, and they too had little success with other
population control methods. The population of geese continued to grow out of control and became
unmanageable.
Working with the State Biologist, it was determined that the only effective solution for our gross
overpopulation of the geese was mitigation by euthanasia.

Town leaders are open to addressing our residents concerns, and trying new ideas to keep geese
overpopulation from getting to this point in the future. We will also continue to reach out to other
communities for better solutions, in an effort to keep our campus and residents safe.

Sincerely,
Paul Fetter
Council President
Town of Clarksville