Lee Humberg, district manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is the man in charge of figuring out how to remove the flocks   of 15,000 to 20,000 Canada geese  that could strike planes flying in and out of the New York area. The Port Authority, the agency that manages airport in New York and New Jersey, estimates that there have been as many as 315 bird strikes annually in the past 30 years. Bird strikes have been a hot topic since a US Airways jet suffered a "double strike" and made an emergency landing on the Hudson River in January 2009. All 155 passengers were rescued safely and the flight was called "Miracle on the Hudson". The plane finally ended up at the Carolinas Aviation Museum. The next major bird strike may not have such a happy ending. To thin the flocks, Humberg and his team have tracked down goose nests and killed eggs with corn oil. They've also terrified the birds with dogs, remote-controlled boats and kites that look like eagles. But the only method that effectively decreases the goose population is the one that angers animal lovers the most: gassing hundreds at a time. "If all you are doing is goose harassment   every day, it's very frustrating, because you are just playing Ping-Pong with the birds," Humberg told New York magazine. "It's basically an arms race to come up with the tools to deal with them." Now New York City plans to send the geese captured to Pennsylvania to be cooked and distributed at food banks as meals for the poor. That might just be a fate better than flying into a 747 engine. What can we learn form Humberg?
He does research on geese's living conditions. He makes efforts to protect wild birds. He deals with the danger of birds at airports. He tries to find newer and safer airlines.