St. Paul - A new rule that would allow states to set a Canada goose-hunting season as early as Aug. 1 is now official. The rule - similar in ways to a 'conservation order' regarding light goose hunting in the spring - allows the use of electronic calls, non-plugged shotguns, and removes other restrictions in place during 'regular' hunting seasons. The rules could continue into the month of September.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week released the final rules, which will allow not only state wildlife agencies, but also landowners and airport officials more flexibility in controlling resident Canada goose populations. The plan has been in the works since 1999, and could affect states in the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Central flyways.
But what's available now and what will be offered hunters are two very different things, and officials in Minnesota plan to approach the subject quite deliberately, they say.
For one thing, the resident Canada goose population, while still higher than waterfowl experts would prefer, has begun to increase at a slower rate. Further, Minnesota hunters, who typically place a high value on tradition and fair chase, might prefer not to opt for new, looser rules.
'We haven't specifically planned (for the USFWS rule) at this point,' Ed Boggess, DNR Fish and Wildlife Policy Section chief.
He said waterfowl officials with the department will commence with internal meetings before soliciting public opinion on the federal rule. Further, for some aspects of the rule to take effect (such as egg addling and nest destroying), state statute would need to be altered.
Boggess said unlike the need to rapidly reduce the light goose population because of habitat destruction due to high numbers, the situation isn't nearly as dire with resident giant Canada geese.
'We've been monitoring the population,' he said. 'It rose rapidly through the 1990s, but now it seems to be stabilizing.'
Aside from that, the DNR has been allowed by the USFWS to more liberally permit landowners and airport officials for a number of years, in the cases of crop depredation and public safety.
In fact, Steve Maxson, goose biologist in Bemidji, said several hundred permits have been issued to farmers in west-central Minnesota in the past year, with each permit allowing the holder to take 20 geese. More often, permit holders have killed one or two geese, he said, with no more than 700 geese taken annually via these permits in recent years. That compares to an annual hunter harvest of well over 200,000 geese annually, Maxson said.
Boggess said crop damage became more and more significant as the 1990s progressed, leading to the depredation permits. The DNR and landowners also sought cost-sharing grants for fencing and food plots to distract Canada geese, he said.
Goose problems also are prevalent at some golf courses, as well as at airports, beaches, and other public areas. In some cases, the sheer number of geese and volume of excrement create health hazards, Boggess said.
'All problems are important and serious in their own way,' he said.
Federal officials say it likely won't just be state wildlife agencies who get involved in liberal resident goose management. The effort probably will include agricultural and public health departments, the Federal Aviation Administration, and perhaps others.
According to federal officials, the new rule includes three main components.
The first component is control and depredation orders for airports, landowners, agricultural producers, and public health officials, with rules 'designed to address resident Canada goose depredation and damage while managing conflict.' It will allow the take of resident Canada geese without a federal permit provided certain reporting and monitoring requirements are fulfilled.
The second component includes expanded hunting methods and opportunities designed to increase the sport harvest of resident Canada geese. States may expand shooting hours and allow the use of electronic and unplugged shotguns during a portion of the early goose season in September.
The third component consists of a new regulation authorizing the USFWS director to implement a resident Canada goose population control program, or 'management take.'
Under management take, the take of resident Canada geese outside the existing sport hunting seasons (Sept. 1-March 10) would be authorized and would enable states to authorize a harvest of resident Canada geese between Aug. 1 and Aug. 31. Such rules would not apply to Pacific Flyway states.
Nicholas Throckmorton, public affairs officer for the USFWS, said the rule was created at the request of states that were battling increasing resident goose populations. Changes in habitat and urbanization were leading to increasing numbers of geese staying year-round in northern states.
Throckmorton said the agency has been criticized for 'abdication of authority,' but that even with the rule, the USFWS continues to have broad oversight of the rule's implementation.
Though the rule was seven years in coming, time was needed for revisions, meetings, and public comment periods. Throckmorton said there were no lawsuits to slow the process.
Recently, though, the Humane Society of the United States has raised concerns about the rule, stating that it favors measures that would create places to which birds might migrate without being a hindrance to humans.
Ollie Torgerson, a Wisconsin resident and representative for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Midwest Region, said problems with light geese and double-crested cormorants also took the time of federal officials working on the Canada goose plan.
Torgerson said he suspects the extent to which states use the options available in the new rule will vary.
'Some will say this is the (USFWS') responsibility,' he said. 'Some will say it's our (the state's) responsibility.'
Torgerson further stated that some sportsmen will believe - as a number did when the light goose conservation order took effect - that some of the liberal allowances 'cross the line' in terms of hunter ethics.
'What they're trying to do is provide as many tools as possible,' he said.
Maxson said Minnesota's resident goose population was estimated this year at about 375,000, 'as high as it's ever been.'
'It's still growing,' he said of the resident Canada goose population, 'but growth has slowed down considerably. We'd still like to reduce it some.'
Ideally, the resident goose population in Minnesota would be around 250,000, Maxson said.
Without a pressing need for an August hunt, he suspects hunters would be cool to the prospect.
'It's my gut feeling and what I've heard from managers that there's not a lot of interest in (liberal regs) for that hunt (which would run through Sept. 15),' Maxson said. 'It would complicate things (because the September season generally runs beyond Sept. 15, and regulations would need to change). It's more of a regulatory hassle than anything else.
'There's also limited interest in an August-type season.'
Boggess added that Minnesota hunters do well with the early and late hunts now available to them. He said during those seasons, state hunters kill more geese than any other state.
'The new rule gives us additional options, but it remains to be seen how much further we need to go to control goose problems,' he said.
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Topic: USFWS release new rules for early canadian goose seasons as option for states to (Read 2292 times)
