Mayor and Council Bill Flitton, Director, Legislative Services/City Clerk Starling Management Program

Transcription

1 a. '~A ABBOTSFORD Report No. COR COUNCIL REPORT Executive Committee July 8, 2014 File No: To: From: Subject: Mayor and Council Bill Flitton, Director, Legislative Services/City Clerk Starling Management Program RECOMMENDATION THAT the Fraser Valley Regional District be requested to investigate the implementation of a local service area bylaw for the purposes of providing funding for a Starling Management Program in the Fraser Valley Regional District. SUMMARY OF THE ISSUE When considering an Audible Bird Scare Device Bylaw in 2013 Council also included in its resolution allocating $30,000 to be used towards a Starling Management Program. At its July 7,2014 Executive Committee meeting Council directed staff to provide an update on these activities. An excerpt of the resolution from June, 2013 is below:... the Mayor open negotiations with the BC Blueberry Council, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Fraser Valley Regional District, and the Township of Langley, to start a starling management program, as quickly as possible, and the City be prepared to fund up to $30, 000 annually, provided the other agencies participate on an equitable basis... BACKGROUND Staff held four meetings, and had numerous phone conversations, with various representatives from Langley Township, Delta, Chilliwack, Fraser Valley Regional District and the Ministry of Agriculture to discuss a Starling Management Program. Through the course of discussions it was determined that any Starling management would be more effective through a region-wide program throughout the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD), or perhaps inter-regional involving both FVRD & Metro Vancouver in its approach. In conversations with BC Blueberry Council, which expressed interest in the possibility of participation in a regional program, it does not believe a local program will be effective. Previously, it considered a pilot project along with the BC Dairy Association at a cost of $115,500 operating on farms in the FVRD from June to October, administered by a program coordinator and trapper; the pilot did not proceed. A representative of the BC Mink Association also expressed interest, on its member's behalf, in a program as well; this will be discussed at a future meeting of the association.

2 Report No. COR 6 5~2014 Page 2 of 4 DISCUSSION European Starlings, as Council is aware, were introduced to North America in the late 1800s, and by as early as 1945 were beginning to be seen in BC. They are a non-native bird and are quite aggressive to local natural species. They typically take over nests of other bird species and tend to show aggression when these birds try to return to their nests. Research suggests that some birds raised in a specific region will remain over the winter, while the remainder will fly elsewhere to milder climates. The increase of the Starling population in the Spring is quite often the wintering birds returning to their place of origin. Research suggests that overall starling populations in the province declined between 1968 and 2006; however, unfortunately, the population of overwintering birds appears to have increased during the same period, causing an overall increase in Starling populations. Starlings prefer to graze on fruit and berries, as well as other food sources such as animal feed (more when wintering) and more recently corn (of concern in Chilliwack). They are labelled as one of the top 100 world's top invasive species by a number of organizations. It is estimated that Starlings, not only by eating berries but also by damaging them, can destroy as much as 10% of local berry crops once as high as 25% in Abbotsford). This number has been estimated to be as high as 20%, at times, in Whatcom County. Furthermore, in addition to damaging crops, starlings also may spread diseases such as Salmonellosis, Chlamydiosis, Johne's Disease, avian tuberculosis and histoplasmosis. Farmers and the fruit industry have tried numerous methods to control Starling populations, including, but not limited to: Propane cannons Netting Falconry Streamers Bird distress alarms A TVs operating in fields Drones Lasers Audible bird-scare devices Kites The BC Fruit Growers Association estimates that starlings cause millions of dollars a year in damage to produce and direct losses to farmers of hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. The industry, FIRB and other organizations all agree that there is no one method to prevent Starlings from damaging crops. A multi-faceted approach is needed to deal with the birds. One part of the approach is to trap Starlings and there are a variety of methods to trap these birds. These methods include: winter trapping, summer (crop damage control) trapping, and trapping during breeding season. Other options include nest box traps and nest blocking. When Starlings overwinter in their home habitat it offers an opportunity to potentially trap them as often their food sources are scarce, especially when snow is present, and the birds will be drawn to food in a trap. The difficulty is that winter trapping will usually end up trying to attract adult Starlings who are sometimes smart enough to not go near them. In winter, Starlings will often target feed lots or feed supplies of local livestock farmers causing problems for this farming sector. This could also lead to some of the diseases, noted above, being inflicted on the livestock.

3 Report No. COR Page 3 of 4 Summer trapping is largely a "crop damage control" exercise as this could potentially result in the capture of large numbers of Starlings. However, for this type of trapping to be effective it must be a large enough program to cover the area of concern and be maintained over for the duration of the season (early spring to fall). It requires substantial participation of the key farming industries whose crops are damaged by Starlings. Trapping during breeding season is another way to affect the Starling population usually by attracting juvenile birds. The difficulty with this program is that it is not 100% effective. Typically Starlings have two broods each year with an average clutch of five eggs each; each pair of starlings produces 10 young. The average egg-to-juvenile survival rate is about 79%, so eight eggs may survive to become juveniles. Although there are variables in survival rates of juveniles, approximately 50% of juveniles survive to spring. Therefore, for the breeding population to remain the same from year to year, only one juvenile is needed to survive to breeding age; however, on average up to four juveniles survive the season. Potentially, there are four-fold more juveniles individuals present each spring than needed to replace adults. In Whatcom County its annual program (started in 1997) is funded to $30,000; however, each contributing farmer in the program also pays about $700 (some upwards of $2,000) for the operation of a trap on a farm; the USDA provides free labour for this program. About one-third of dairy farmers and one-third of blueberry farmers are involved in the Whatcom County program. Other farmers do operate outside the program as well and run independent programs. The Whatcom County program yields a total catch of about 40,000 birds per year. This is similar to the Okanagan Similkameen "large-scale" program which captured almost 500,000 birds from (on average 50,000 birds per year). This program now costs annually about $115,000, of which two regional districts contribute $25,000 each, and the remainder comes from the BC Fruit Growers' Association, Okanagan Kootenay Cherry Growers' Association, Okanagan Tree Fruit Co-op and the BC Grapegrowers' Association. The Regional District of Central Okanagan recently adopted a regional service bylaw which funds a $25,000 program to run from Recently, in May of 2014, the Comox Valley Farmer's Institute was approved funding by the BC Agricultural Council, through its Agriculture Environment Initiative, for the amount of $35,000 for a Starling Management Pilot Program. Additional methods to control Starling populations also include nest box traps and nest blocking. Nest blocking contemplates a variety of ways to prevent Starlings from roosting in the first place. This could include building farm buildings without perches, eliminating existing perches, placing caging inside of barns to prevent birds access to rafters, placing screens over outlets and vents, etc. Nest box traps are intended to capture Starlings by placing a device in the nest, as the bird enters, harming it and then retrieving the bird later on and humanely destroying it.

4 Report No. COR Page 4 of 4 FINANCIAL PLAN IMPLICATION The funding amount of $30,000 for a Starling Management Program was approved by Council and is included in the 2014 Bylaw Enforcement Budget. Chief Financial Officer IMPACTS ON COUNCIL POLICIES, STRATEGIC PLAN ANDIOR COUNCIL DIRECTION It is anticipated that a proposed Starling Management Program will assist to address ongoing concerns of a healthy community, while allowing berry farmers to continue to be economically viable. SUBSTANTIATION OF RECOMMENDATION Research suggests that there is no one way to control the invasive Starling population. Along with the variety of methods currently employed one that is not being used is an active Starling Management Program. Staff suggests that, due to the migratory pattern of Starlings, an isolated Abbotsford solution is not viable. Therefore staff recommends that a regional program be established to be conducted/coordinated by the Fraser Valley Regional District, along with its partner local governments, as well as the BC Blueberry Council. Prepared by: Bill Flitton Director, Legislative Services/City Clerk De. De a e Rudolph Attachment "A": Regional District of Central Okanagan Bylaw No Attachment "B": Okanagan Similkameen Starling Control Program

5 ATTACHMENT A Regional District of Central Okanagan Bylaw No A bylaw to establish a local service area for the purposes of providing funding for a Starling Control Program in the Regional District of Central Okanagan WHEREAS a Regional District may by bylaw establish a service under the provisions of the Local Government Act - Section 800. AND WHEREAS the Regional Board of the Regional District of Central Okanagan wishes to establish a local area grant service for the purpose of providing funding to the Starling Control Program, as has been established in the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen and the Regional District of North Okanagan; AND WHEREAS the City of Kelowna, the Corporation of the District of Peachland, and District of Lake Country have consented to the establishment of the service of 'Starling Control Program' in the whole of their municipal borders; AND WHEREAS the District of West Kelowna has not consented to the establishment of the service but has committed to provide their share of the program funding directly to the BC Grapegrowers Association; AND WHEREAS the Central Okanagan Electoral Area East and Central Okanagan Electoral Area West directors have agreed to provide funds through their electoral area grant-in-aid program based on the annual revised assessment roll converted values and the percentage of contributio.n for the program; NOW THEREFORE THE REGIONAL BOARD OF THE REGIONAL DISTRICT OF CENTRAL OKANAGAN IN OPEN MEETING ASSEMBLED ENACTS AS FOLLOWS: 1. The Regional District of Central Okanagan hereby establishes a service for the purpose of providing funding for the "Starling Control Service".. Participating Areas 2. The participants in the service are the entire boundaries of the City of Kelowna, the Corporation of the District of Peachland, and the District of Lake Country, identified in Schedule 'A'. Requisition Limit 3. The maximum amount that may be requisitioned annually for the service is $25,000 for a maximum period of three years ( ) and will expire on December 31, 201G.

6 Cost Recovery 3. The annual cost of providing the local area service outlined in this Bylaw shall be recovered by the following: a) requisition of money under Sections 805 [Requisition of funds from municipalities] of the Local Government Act to be collected by a property value tax to be levied and collected under Section of the said Act. Citation 4. This bylaw may be cited as the "Regional District of Central Okanagan Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Bylaw No. 1332". READ A FIRST TIME THIS 28 th DAY OF October 2013 READ A SECOND TIME THIS 28 th DAY OF October 2013 READ A THIRD TIME THIS 28 th DAY OF October 2013 Approved by the Inspector of Municipalities this day of 2013 RECONSIDERED AND ADOPTED THIS DAY OF 2013 JL-~~,~ ;}~, CHAIRPERSON DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE SERVICES I hereby certify the foregoing to be a true and correct copy of Bylaw No cited as the "Regional District of Central Okanagan Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Bylaw No. 1332,2013", as read a third time by the Regiona oard on th 8 th d Y of October Dated at Kelowna, B.C. this 29 th day of October 2013 I hereby certify the foregoing to be a true and correct copy of Bylaw No. cited as the "Regional District of Central Okanagan Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Bylaw No. ~4 12t_ Dated at Kelowna, B.C. this 1332 " as adopted by the Regional Board on the day 0(1. " day of 2013 DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE SERVICES

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8 August 27, 2013 City of 0 Kelowna Mary Jane Drouin Manager - Corporate Services Regional District of Central Okanagan Corporate Services 1450 KLO Road Kelowna, BC V1 W 3Z4 Dear Ms. Drouin: Re: Regional District of Central Okanagan Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Please be advised that the following resolution was adopted by the Municipal Council of the City of Kelowna at their Regular AM Meeting held on Monday, August 26, 2013:. THAT Council receives, for information, the August 7, 2013 letter from the Regional District of Central Okanagan with respect to the Regional District of Central Okanagan Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Bylaw; AND THAT the City of Kelowna hereby consents to the Regional District of Central Okanagan adopting a Regional District of Central Okanagan Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Bylaw. I trust you find the foregoing to be in order. cc: Council City Manager Office of the City Clerk 1435 Water Street Kelowna, Be V1Y 1J4 TEL FAX kelowna.ca

9 II LAKE COUNTRY Ute. The Okanagan Way. Municipal Hall Corporate Services Department Bottom Wood Lake Road. Lake Country, BC V4V 2Ml Tel: Fax: 250~ October 2, 2013 Mary Jane Drouin Manager - Corporate Services Regional District of Central Okanagan 1450 KLO Road Kelowna, Be V1W 3Z4 Dear Ms. Drouin: Re: District of West Kelowna Participation in Regional District Services - Starling Control At the Regular Couneii Meeting of October 1, 2013, Council made the following resolution: That consent be given to the Regional District of Central Okanagan for the adoption of Regional District of Central Okanagan Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Bylaw No Please let me know if you have any questions. Regards, Reyna Seabrook Corporate Services Manager/Corporate Officer RS/wp S:\CorpService5\CORPORATE SERVICES PROJECTS AND FILES\CS Participation in Regional District Servlces\Starllng Control Program 20B.l0.02.docx

10 7he Corforafion of the fjij'trict of Peachfanl 5806 Beach Avenue Peachland, Be VORlX? Phone: Fax: October 23, 2013 Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) Corporate Services 1450 K.l.O Road Kelowna, B.C. Vi W 324 Re: RDCO Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Bylaw The District of Peachland Council passed the following resolution at their October 22, 2013 Regular Council Meeting: "RC-l0jOS/ THAT Council consents to the Regional District of Central Okanagan Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Bylaw No If you have any questions regarding this letter please do not hesitate to contact me directly. Yours truly, Polly Palmer Director of Corporate Services

11 BRITISH. C:OLUMBIA November 19,2013 Chief Administrative Officer Regional District of Central Okanagan 1450 K.L.O Road Kelowna Be Vl W 3Z4 Re: Regional District of Central Okanagan Starling Control Program Service Area Establishment Bylaw No Enclosed is one copy of the bylaw approved under the provisions of section 801 of the Local Government Act.. The Regional Board may now adopt the bylaw. Once the bylaw has been adopted by the Board, please forward one certified copy to this office as required under section 801.6(2) of the Local Government Act. Sincerely, Catherine Rolfe Advisory Officer Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Advisory Services, Governance and Structure Branch Mailing Address: PO 80x 9839 Victoria Be V8W 9T1 Location: 4th Floor 800 Johnson Straet Phone: Fax:

12 r~rltish UJLUMBIA Statutory Approval Under the provisions of section 801 of the Local Government Act ~~~~~~~ I hereby approve Bylaw No of the R_e-'"'-9i_on_a_1 _D_ist_ri_ct_o_f C_e_n_tr_al_O_k_an_a-""9_an a copy of which is attached hereto. Dated this day of, 2013 _._.... 1fL.~ Deputy rnfpelt~r of Municipalities

13 ATTACHMENT B BRITISH COLUMBIA GRAPEGROWERS' ASSOCIATION OKANAGAN SIMILKAMEEN STARLING CONTROL PROGRAM Funding Each Regional District in the Okanagan Similkameen contributes $25,000 annually to the trapping program. Funding is also received from the BC Fruit Growers' Association, Okanagan Kootenay Cherry Growers' Association, Okanagan Tree Fruit Co-op and the BC Grapegrowers' Association. Trapping program costs average $115,000/year. Trapping Trapping is currently carried out by a team of 4 contracted trappers - one in the RDNO, one in the RDCO and two in the RDOS. Bird captures ,369 15, ,197 7,359 8,878 42, ,249 17,686 7,431 47, ,206 14,247 1,915 41, ,930 10,591 1,510 34, ,129 21,471 2,129 41, ,336 16,638 17,276 53, ,923 20,246 36,121 88, ,713 21,366 29,281 78, ,637 17,081 20,130 54,848 Totals 225, , , ,045 Program Management The British Columbia Grapegrowers' Association has been providing administration & program management since A management committee made up of representatives from the funding groups oversees the program's operations. Okanagan Similkameen Starling Control Program Page 1

14 Research A two-year Graduate Student research program carried out at UBC-Okanagan has now wrapped up. The research was to determine the origins of starlings that make up the Okanagan-Similkameen populations and to better understand the movements & population dynamics locally to evaluate trapping effectiveness. Results showed that 25% of the birds sampled were from the Kelowna area; 10% from the South Okanagan; 20% from Quesnel and 5% from Grand Forks. About40% were unaccountedfor. The BC Grapegrowers' Association and the Program's Management Committee have been working with Dr. jeff Curtis at UBC-Okanagan to continue the research under another two-year Graduate Student program. Funding for research is from various other sources including the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Agriculture Environment Wildlife Fund, and the BC Wine Grape Council.. The trappers collect data on starling numbers and population patterns, and starling samples from specific locations for analysis. Awareness IdentifYing & blocking nesting sites is effective in helping to control starlings and is something that everyone can participate in. Starlings utilize urban and rural man-made structures such as building ledges & crevices, birdhouses, warehouses, open rafters on sheds, barns & other outbuildings, bathroom & dryer vents. They also use tree cavities, aggressively displacing native species. A public awareness campaign about the program and particularly aimed to encourage the reduction nesting sites will be launched in the spring o The goal- to enhance the effectiveness of the starling control program by reducing the number ofjuvenile starlings. Education of the public, including farm workers, about the importance of the program and its value will help to reduce vandalism to traps. It is not uncommon for the trappers to find trap doors opened or traps propped up so that the birds can escape. The program will include: Some/acts: o o o o Two prime target areas in the City of Penticton & the Similkameen. A partnership with the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance and the South Okanagan Naturalist club who will assist to find key nesting sites and encourage public participation.. Print material, newspaper articles, public meetings. Assistance by area trappers to respond to general public enquiries on starling nest blocking/disrupting options. just under 500,000 starlings have been captured since the program began in Starlings can have up to 3 broods a year with 4-5 eggs in a brood. The average breeding pair has 8 surviving fledglings per year. If the program stopped, how long would it take before populations were back at pre-trapping levels? And what affect would that have on crop losses and increases in bird control costs to individual growers? january 2013 Okanagan Similkameen Starling Control Program Page 2