U.S. to Ease Hunting Curbs on Snow Geese

The government gave hunters new freedom Friday to shoot hundreds of thousands of additional snow geese as they migrate north--an attempt to protect imperiled Canadian tundra from the birds’ voracious appetites.

The Interior Department said it will allow 24 states to ease restrictions on the hunting of snow geese, hoping to double the number killed during their spring migration.

An estimated 1.2 million birds are expected to be shot, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials. During the last three decades, the population of snow geese has exploded from 800,000 birds to an estimated 5 million.

While endorsed by many conservation and hunting groups, the plan was immediately denounced by the Humane Society of the United States, which promised a lawsuit.

The easing of the rules takes effect Tuesday.

Canada’s Hudson Bay area is the summer breeding ground for snow geese. During the warm months, the birds grub into the tundra, destroying plant roots and the area’s thin layer of topsoil. That disturbs the feeding grounds for other migratory birds.