Wisconsin’s ‘Goose Wars’: A Look Back at 1960s-70s Goose Management Efforts
The "Goose Wars" refers to a period in the 1960s and 1970s when state and federal officials in Wisconsin's Horicon Marsh attempted to manage and drive away large populations of Canada geese using methods like airplanes, exploders, and airboats. These…
Green Bay Appleton, WI, November 6, 2026 — The period known as the “Goose Wars” saw extensive efforts by state and federal officials to manage significant populations of Canada geese in Wisconsin’s Horicon Marsh during the 1960s and 1970s.
These initiatives were undertaken in response to escalating concerns regarding the large numbers of Canada geese congregating in the marsh. Officials cited several reasons for the intervention, including the potential for disease outbreaks within such dense avian populations. Additionally, the substantial presence of geese raised alarms about the damage they could inflict on agricultural crops in surrounding areas. Another objective of these management strategies was to facilitate the redistribution of geese, which was intended to support hunting opportunities in other regions.
To achieve these management goals, officials employed a range of methods. These included utilizing airplanes to disturb and redirect the geese, deploying exploders designed to create loud noises that would scare the birds, and using airboats to navigate marshy terrains and influence goose movements. The “Goose Wars” represent a notable chapter in wildlife management history, highlighting the challenges and methodologies employed to balance ecological concerns with human interests in a specific natural environment.
The specific outcomes or further details regarding the success of these particular management techniques, including the precise scale of crop damage or the exact measures taken for redistribution beyond the mentioned methods, were not detailed in the provided summary.
Story summarized from the original created by Clara Neupert on www.wpr.org, see more information here.
