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Bird Control Program Forward Landfill-Manteca, California Introduction There is a general concern about the presence of birds in the vicinity of airports where they may collide with aircraft. This can threaten the safety of the aircraft. Municipal waste landfills often attract birds, primarily gulls of various species. For this reason, the siting of landfills near airports must be handled carefully. Fortunately, bird strikes are very rare events and damaging strikes are much rarer still but they still do occur. — The Forward Landfill has operated near Manteca, CA since 1973. An airstrip on the site of the Stockton Metropolitan Airport (SCK) began operation in April 1940. Thus, there is a long _ history (40 years) of co-existence between the landfill and the airport. An analysis of the reported bird strikes by aircraft using the Stockton Airport since 1991 indicates that the operating landfill has not been the source of birds struck by aircraft using the airport. This analysis is _ included later in this report. Forward, Inc., a subsidiary of Republic Services, Inc., operates the Forward Landfill _ which is located close to SCK (Figure 1). Because can be attracted to landfills there was a potential to create a hazard to the safety of aircraft using the Stockton Airport and because the landfill is known to have attracted gulls in previous winters (October-April), Forward, Inc. has — instituted a gull control program at the landfill. LGL Limited, an experienced bird hazard research firm, has been retained to monitor the success of the control program and to make recommendations for improvements to the program, if required. LGL is one of North America's leading ecological research firms. It has been involved with bird hazards to aircraft safety and associated wildlife control issues for over 40 — years under the direction of Dr. Davis, the author of this report. The present report provides an analysis of the success of the third year (2012-2013) of bird control program that was instituted at Forward Landfill during the winter of 2010-2011. Reports of the two previous years of bird control are available (Davis 2011, 2012). Previous Gull Use of Forward Landfill Gulls are the principal birds that are attracted to edible waste that is disposed of at — municipal solid waste landfills. Gulls winter in the Stockton area with first arrivals usually appearing in late September or October. Gull numbers increase in November and December as migrants from further north arrive in the area. The Forward Landfill has attracted gulls during - winter in previous years. Previous spot surveys by WRA Environmental Consultants estimated that 550 gulls were present in January 2005, 661 on 23 January 2007, and 300-500 gulls on 10 February 2010. It should be emphasized that these were minimum estimates of gull numbers because they were spot estimates rather than full counts of the numbers using the site on any particular day. 1 30 December 2013