Snow Goose Season 2025–26 — Light Geese & Conservation Order

Why the LGCO Exists

Snow goose populations have grown dramatically since the mid-20th century, largely due to agricultural intensification providing abundant food on wintering and migration areas. The population of lesser snow geese was approximately 800,000 birds in 1965. Today, mid-continent snow goose populations are estimated at 15–20 million birds — a more than 20-fold increase.

The consequences are severe: overabundant snow geese are destroying Arctic and subarctic nesting habitat in what biologists call "eat-out" events, where entire coastal marsh and tundra areas are stripped bare. This habitat destruction affects not just geese but dozens of other migratory species that share the same habitat. Congress authorized the LGCO in 1999 to give wildlife managers a tool to increase harvest without the constraints of normal hunting regulations.