Penalty proposed for feeding waterfowl

The Kalispell City Council will discuss the next step in the city’s “Restoring Back to Nature” plan for Woodland Park Pond at a work session Monday evening. It will consider enacting an ordinance that would impose a civil penalty for feeding the waterfowl and abandoning animals in the park.

In February, the council initiated discussions about the waterfowl in Woodland Park and the health of the pond. A community group quickly organized and adopted out all of the hundreds of domestic and cross-bred “frankenducks” from the park. This step improved the pond health, reduced the bird feces in the park and addressed human-bird conflicts that had become an increasing concern there. However, the agenda for Monday’s work session stated, “Problems still exist in the parks system related to migratory birds being fed by humans and other domestic animals being abandoned at Woodland and other city parks.”

As the next step in addressing these issues, the council will discuss potentially implementing an ordinance that would impose a civil penalty for feeding the birds and abandoning animals in the park.

The agenda explained feeding the birds, while a pastime for many park-goers, has numerous negative health impacts for the animals and environmental effects on the park in general.

Food like crackers and old bread can poison birds, cause deformities and disrupt their natural migration patterns. Artificial feeding also creates unnatural and harmful conditions for the birds, such as over-competition, unsanitary circumstances from feces and increased aggressiveness. Their feces can also contribute to algae blooms in the pond and the spread of disease, including in the playground area.

Additionally, the agenda noted there continue to be waterfowl in the park after the adoption effort, and “typically, after Easter, there is an increase in the abandonment of domestic waterfowl, rabbits, and chickens at the park.”

The council will an ordinance that would impose a civil penalty for feeding the waterfowl and abandoning animals in Woodland Park. However, the meeting agenda pointed out there may be push-back from the public for this decision, since feeding the birds has been a popular pastime, and it may be difficult to enforce. No formal decisions may be made during a work session.

After the duck discussion, the council will review a few questions raised by council members during the last discussion of the preliminary fiscal year 2021 budget. The council is considering adopting an $82.5 million budget for the current fiscal year, although the final amount won’t be set until the council receives final property valuations from the state in August.

During the previous budget discussion, council members brought up ideas for charging city utilities based on income brackets or age groups; installing a solar generator for the wastewater treatment plant; and funding sources for initiatives such as trail construction, wood-burning stoves and a housing needs assessment. The council will go over the findings from researching these questions at the work session.

The work session is open to the public and starts at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 201 First Ave. E.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.