Resident Geese

Directed by Diana Peterson and Brian Towns

Description

Back from the brink of extinction in the 1960s, Wisconsin's resident goose population now calls many parks like Madison's Vilas Park home. In the summer of 2010, the geese contributed to the closing of Vilas Beach for 43 days. So what should we do? Welcome the birds and share the park? Or, take matters into our own hands and remove the geese? The geese are not going anywhere anytime soon (a goose can live twenty to thirty years). Engaged community members/experts share their understandings of how a wild animal has become the center of a public health dilemma. For many, the geese no longer remind us of Aldo Leopold's romantic notion of "The Return of the Geese" in A Sand County Almanac. And presently, much attention is turning to appropriate ways to manage the geese in order to maintain Vilas Park as a healthy, recreational space.

Other 2011 Student Films

At the Heart of Badger
Beekeeping in Wisconsin
Living by Fire
Tonyawatha's Healing Waters
What's In a Name

Go back to the Student Films Directory.