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The City teamed up with the United States Dept. of Agriculture to curb the number of Canada geese roaming around airports.

The Port Authority, USDA and City hope to remove 2,000 geese from within a five-mile radius of both JFK and LaGuardia Airports using a multi-tiered approach.

“The serious dangers that Canada geese pose to aviation became all to clear when geese struck US Airways Flight 1549,” said Mayor Mike Bloomberg. “The incident served as a catalyst to strengthen our efforts in removing geese from, and discouraging them from nesting on, City property near our runways.”

The USDA will employ tactics it has used across the country in similar situations, according to USDA spokeswoman Carol Bannerman. The agency has already oiled 900 eggs locally, preventing them from hatching. The Parks Dept. will also post signs discouraging visitors from feeding the birds.

The USDA will then work on habitat management and airport hazard reduction practices, making the land less appealing to the geese. Finally, teams will sweep City parks within a five mile radius of the airports, rounding up all the Canada geese during their flightless molting season until the end of July. The birds will then be taken to an offsite area where they will be euthanized in carbon dioxide chambers.

According to Bannerman, 2,000 geese isn’t the cut-off mark. The City hopes to remove all geese within the five mile radius.

The program adds to the Port Authority’s bird mitigation system, which involves patrolling airports with shotguns and introducing natural predators like falcons, according PA spokesman Steve Coleman. Both airports are installing bird radars, which detect large clusters of birds.

Coleman also raised the specter of garbage, a topic of contention given the Dept. of Sanitation’s proposed Marine Transfer Station 2,000 feet away from LaGuardia’s east runway.

“The birds are definitely attracted to garbage,” he said, before adding the comment does not connect in any way to the MTS.

The plan was not met with open arms by past critics of the City’s bird policy and MTS.

“They’re definitely on the right track. They’re finally doing what they’ve been supposed to have been doing this entire time.” said Dr. Steven Graber, a wildlife biologist specializing in aviation hazards. “However, they’re forgetting about 90 percent of the property and 90 percent of the problem.”

According Graber, 2,000 geese will hardly make a dent in a population the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation ranges from 20,000 to 25,000.

“All they’re doing is picking the easiest part of it, the parks, and leaving out the rest,” Graber said. He believes many more geese can be found on private property.

U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) felt the program was a positive step, but didn’t address the issue completely.

“Any effort to reduce the number of geese is notable,” he said. “I’m not sure how much that reduction will reduce the number of strikes.”

Mayoral spokesman Jason Post defended the program against Graber’s charge.

“In the City, there isn’t much open space that isn’t city owned,” he said. “Aside from private golf courses, I challenge you to find large patches of open land.”