The Early Canada Goose Hunting Season (statewide) begins on Monday, September 2 and runs through September 21. For Early Canada Goose season only, hunting hours are 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset. The daily bag limit is 15 and the possession limit is 45. The reason for this early season and the large numbers of geese allowed to be taken is to reduce the large local resident population that is befouling our lawns and beaches. 
There are many regulations regarding goose hunting and your attention is directed to the 2024 – 2025 Season Dates & Bag Limit provided at https://www.mass.gov/doc/2024-2025-migratory-game-bird-regulations.
Also, the Early Black Bear Hunting Season opens statewide on Tuesday, September 3 and runs through September 21. Those hunting hours are also 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset. There are no blaze orange requirements during this season. Hunting implements allowed during this season are rifles, revolvers, muzzleloaders and archery equipment. There are also many regulations governing bear hunting as noted on pages 30 and 31 of the Massachusetts Fishing and Hunting laws (commonly referred to as the abstracts).
Please remember: It is unlawful for hunters to intentionally, or knowingly leave a wounded or dead game animal in the field or the forest without making a reasonable effort to retrieve and use it. Each retrieved animal shall be retained or transferred to another until processed or used for food, pelt, feathers, or taxidermy. This does not apply to animals unfit for consumption or use—animals and their parts that are damaged, destroyed, decayed, rotting, diseased, or infected.
Also remember that no hunting is allowed on Sundays in Massachusetts.
Here’s wishing you safe and successful hunts.
DFG announces 5-year strategic plan
The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (DFG) recently announced the release of a five-year strategic plan, Connections: Working Together for Nature to guide the agency’s work from 2025-2030. The plan establishes a vision for the Department, focusing on solutions at the intersection of biodiversity, climate change, and environmental justice while advancing the priorities of the Healey-Driscoll Administration and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It ties into goals laid out by Governor Healey’s Executive Order 618, which ordered the DFG to review all executive departments’ biodiversity efforts and lay out biodiversity goals for 2030, 2040 and 2050, as well as strategies to reach them.
The strategic plan was created collaboratively across DFG’s four Divisions—Division of Ecological Restoration (DER), Division of Fisheries & Wildlife (MassWildlife), Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), and Office of Fishing & Boating Access and with input from the Fisheries & Wildlife Board and Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission.
The Department has identified key priority biodiversity conservation goals. It will double the pace of land protection, working to protect an average of 6,000 acres per year, to support the state’s goal of conserving 40 percent of Massachusetts land by 2050. Additionally, the Department will complete five landscape-scale conservation projects, expand river and wetland restoration efforts, promote carbon storage and sequestration, and develop decarbonization and resilience plans for all facilities.
It will also work to meaningfully connect with environmental justice and Indigenous communities by creating new inclusive recreation opportunities for underserved and environmental justice communities, increasing accessibility and use of Department programs, facilities, and resources, and improving language access. It will foster respectful, mutually beneficial partnerships with Indigenous peoples and collaborate with Tribes to identify resources they may wish to access for traditional and cultural uses. Finally, it will increase food security by expanding venison donations, connecting environmental justice communities with fresh, local seafood, and increasing harmful Algal Bloom monitoring by 25% to ensure sustainable shellfish harvest.
You can read the 64-page strategic plan at https://www.mass.gov/doc/dfg-strategic-plan-1/download.
“This plan reflects our agency’s commitment to respond with urgency to the most pressing challenges of today: unprecedented biodiversity loss, the climate crisis, and persistent environmental injustice,” said DFG’s Commissioner Tom O’Shea. “By aligning our efforts, this plan will allow our Department to rise to these challenges, expand our impact, and above all, better serve the people of Massachusetts.” “Since its inception, DFG has been dedicated to conserving fish and wildlife for the benefit of all people. While the Department maintains its commitment to conserve fish and wildlife and continue the long traditions of hunting, fishing, boating, and other outdoor recreation, this strategic plan outlines priority areas for growth and expansion.”
“DER is proud to be a part of this groundbreaking plan for the next five years. Climate change is bringing significant challenges to our communities: extreme weather, increased precipitation, and catastrophic flooding.” said DER Director Beth Lambert. “We are excited to scale up our river and wetland restoration efforts to help people and nature adapt—increasing capacity at the local level and leveraging new and existing partnerships to expand our impact.”
“The DFG’s Strategic Plan is an important first step that clearly lays out for the public what the Department’s and MassWildlife’s key priorities are, including but not limited to biodiversity and landscape-scale conservation through partnerships, land protection, habitat restoration and management, expanding fishing and hunting opportunities, access to nature and wildlife for all to enjoy, and expanding “Hunters Share the Harvest” to help address food security needs in the Commonwealth.” said MassWildlife Director Mark S. Tisa.
“The Fisheries and Wildlife Board is proud to support MassWildlife’s comprehensive mandate to ensure the conservation of the Commonwealth’s natural resources for the use and enjoyment of all people. The Board appreciated the opportunity to engage during the development of the DFG’s Strategic Plan and applauds the plan’s commitments to expanding access to outdoor recreation through learn-to-fish and -hunt programs, connecting people to nature with wildlife education programs, and to environmental justice across all programs,” said Stephen Sears, Chair of the Fisheries and Wildlife Board.
15th Annual Berkshire Biodiversity Day Brings Community Together to Survey Local Species
Celebrating local biodiversity during a time of unprecedented global biodiversity loss, the 15th Annual Berkshire Biodiversity Day (also known as Berkshire BioBlitz) welcomes community members of all ages to join biologists, naturalists, and environmentalists to identify as many plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms as possible during a 24-hour period.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place from noon on Friday, September 13, to noon on Saturday, September 14, at the Berkshire Community College campus, 1350 West St, Pittsfield. Participants may take part at any time during this period to record a survey of their findings and experience first-hand the importance of a healthy, active ecosystem in their community.
This year’s program promises to be an engaging experience for all nature enthusiasts. The schedule is packed with guided walks, presentations, and demonstrations led by experts. Presentation topics include native plants as insect habitat from Charley Eiseman, moths and how to observe them from Carla Rhodes, lichen from Kay Hurley, and arthropods from Bryan “Professor Bugman” Man.
Professor Tom Tyning will lead an amphibian, reptile, and small mammal walk that will involve checking under cover boards—a common surveying method used by herpetologists. Rene Wendell from Hoffmann Bird Club will lead an owl prowl, and Matthew Rymkiewicz will lead a demo on how to “lightsheet” for moths. Ben Nickley of Berkshire Bird Observatory will also conduct a bird banding demonstration. Visit www.berkshirebioblitz.org to find a detailed schedule of the 24-hour program.
All attendees should meet in the lobby of the Koussevitzky Arts Center on BCC’s campus. Biological surveys and expert-led walks will be conducted on BCC’s campus, which spans 180+ acres and boasts a diverse range of habitats, including meadows, forests, and wetlands. Presentations will take place in the K-111 Auditorium.
The 15th Annual Berkshire Biodiversity Day is organized and sponsored by Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) and Nature Academy of the Berkshires. It’s co-sponsored by Berkshire Community College, Greylock Federal Credit Union, and Panera.
To learn more about this 24-hour biological survey and the scheduled activities, visit www.berkshirebioblitz.org or email team@thebeatnews.org.
Deb Lipa has retired
Congratulations to Debra ‘Deb’ Lipa who retired this past Friday from her position as clerk at the DFW Western District Headquarters in Dalton. And many thanks for providing us those local trout stocking reports. We know and appreciate the added work, involved that was required to get that information to us.
For the last 10 years she was the pleasant lady who greeted us upon entering the headquarters.
Here’s wishing Deb a long, happy and healthy retirement.