Lawmaker Wants To Extend Goose Hunting Season, Increase Bag Limit

NORTH FORK, NY – The challenges posed by local wildlife, including deer and geese, was one of the critical topics discussed at a recent virtual environmental roundtable hosted by local East End lawmakers.

Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski explained the ways that an overabundance of geese on the East End has led to significant issues, including erosion and the degradation of local waterways.

Krupski, who said he is advocating that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation extend the goose hunting season and increase the bag limit, explained the problems.

Farmers plant cover crops in the fall to protect the soil, Krupski, himself a farmer, said — without crop cover, there is erosion due to rainfall. Although sometimes there are dust storms that disrupt the cover crops, mostly, he said, it's the geese that signal concerns.

The geese, he said, cause damage on the fields when the cover crops are just sprouting, either in early November and even during the winter. "They mow down the cover crops so they can't grow. After farmers have gone through all the expense to try and protect the soil, the geese destroy the cover crop," he said.

That cover crop also helps to absorb nutrients from the soil so they don't impact local waterways, Krupski said. "The cover crop does such a good job of protecting the environment, and then the geese destroy it," he said.

To that end, Krupski said he is appealing to the DEC to extend the hunting season for geese, which currently extends from Thanksgiving until the end of January, so that it's a month longer at both the beginning and end of the season.

There has been "some reluctance" on the part of the DEC, the regulatory agency, Krupski said; Canadian geese are federally regulated water fowl under the auspices of the DEC.

The reason for the reluctance is that the Canadian geese are migratory and the goal is only to control the local population, Krupski believes.

Also, Krupski said, the bag limit is two on eastern Long Island; he'd like to see that number increased. Many factors come into play, he said, including conditions that must be good for hunting geese, and the time necessary to hunt. "The time factor is the biggest thing," he said.

The DEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the request to extend the goose-hunting season.