Politics & Government

Mute Swans Safe for Now, Township Board Rules

Complaints by West Bloomfield residents and activists on population control resolution leads to reversed decision.

The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees unanimously voted this week to to control the population of mute swans. 

The board voted June 18 to allow township attorneys to write a resolution allowing subdivisions to participate in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources mute swan removal program at the behest of the subdivisions. There would have reportedly been no cost to residents.

Prompted by complaints of residents and activists that the birds have negatively affected life for residents and wildlife, the resolution was to mirror another recently passed by Bloomfield Township. 

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"We have had problems for quite some time from different swans ... we had multiple attacks," said Mandi Mankvitz, a resident of the Middle Straits Lake Association, at the June meeting. "They are destroying habitats."

However, complaints from residents and activists, confusion over the program's requirements, and a deeper understanding of the issue led to the board voting to rescind the resolution on Monday.

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Clerk Cathy Shaughnessy said Monday that although she had voted on the understanding that a 70 percent majority of lakefront homeowners in a subdivision association had to agree on the means of control prior to the MDNR handling the situation upon review.

That was not the case, explained Steven Beyer, a research supervisor at the MDNR. As part of current MDNR policy, subdivision associations have the right to organize and ask the MDNR to facilitate control through a variety of means — ranging from destroying eggs and nests to euthanizing adult swans.

The resolution allowed lakefront property owners to ask the MDNR for assistance without the super-majority, explained MDNR wildlife biologist Julie Oakes.

At the heart of the decision, fear of inhumane slaughter policies used by the MDNR against the invasive species, as well as a possibility of moving the mute swans to another location were cited by the board. 

Those concerns were echoed by candidates for office in the .

"Communication is part of the answer here. By communicating with the DNR, the property owners, and the township board, and if necessary, public safety officials, maybe we can find ways in which we can move them elsewhere and not harm life," said Jeremy Kaplan, a candidate for Trustee.

Incumbent Trustee Steven Kaplan said that a solution appeared to be in place in the near future, wherein aggressive swans could be removed from the area, but not euthanized.

For more on West Bloomfield Township government, visit the Elections 2012 page on West Bloomfield Patch.

Burning on a topic at Town Hall? Send a letter to the editor to tim.rath@patch.com.


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