Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Missouri
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The number of lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens) and Ross’s geese (C. rossi) hereafter “light geese,” using wetlands in the Rainwater Basin (RWB) region of south-central Nebraska during spring migration has increased since the 1980s and in some years may exceed 7 million birds (Vrtiska and Sullivan 2009). An estimated 85% of the mid-continent population of light geese stage in RWB wetlands during their annual spring migration (Gersib et al. 1989), and have been hypothesized to have negative effects on other waterfowl species on the breeding grounds (Batt 1997). Reduction of the mid-continent population of lesser snow geese has been a priority within and outside the Central Flyway since the mid-1990s. One means to help reduce this population was the implementation of a Light Goose Conservation Order (LGCO) in 1999 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in the Central and Mississippi Flyways to increase harvest. The LGCO was implemented in Nebraska in 1999, but there has been concern and special regulations regarding the LGCO in the RWB region due to the millions of other waterfowl that also use this area during spring migration.