By Gia Vang

EUGENE, Ore. --  Local farmers have had a hard time maintaining their crops since geese wintering in the Pacific Northwest have dramatically increased over the past few decades.

Some species of Canadian geese have been devouring seed and fruit fields for quite some time now.

That's why the Oregon Geese Control Task Force was created last year to address the concerns.  And it held its first meeting Tuesday, a hopeful sign for farmer Dewey Hofer.

"You can just see them as they're moving, they're grazing. They're just ripping it up," he said.

Ripping it up and leaving the damage for farmers like Hofer. He said, "They take wheat acres out, rye grass they're really tough on."

It's also tough on farm profits.  Hofer said it costs him thousands of dollars every year.  While that loss grows, experts said the number of geese is growing.

Michelle Dennehy, spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said geese are shifting from wintering in California to Oregon.

Hofer said that's why the birds have made the Willamette Valley home now.  "Then all the other geese decided this was a great place to leave and migrate to and they're actually not even leaving," he said.

Dennehy said because they aren't leaving, Oregon lawmakers are stepping up.  She said goose hunting in the northwest is complicated.

She said hunters need to take a course on how to identify certain Canadian geese because they are trying to conserve certain species.  Specifically, she said, dusky geese numbers have been in long decline for years.  Dennehy said that's why there are restrictions to hunt them.

She also said Cackling geese are becomming abundant in the Willamette Valley, but they remain an important food source for Native Alaskans' subsistence harvest.

"Because we have different sub species and some that are in danger wintering here, it makes addressing damage or sports hunting a very complex process," Dennehy said.

She said wildlife officials encourage using a variety of methods to reduce goose damage, including hunting. But hunting restrictions are the exact reason Hofer said the birds are staying. He said, "If I'm a goose and no body's hunting me, and there's all this food, there's no reason to leave."

Dennehy said lawmakers hope no one has to leave and aim to eventually come up with recommendations to address the problem.  She said it should ultimately conclude in a bill for lawmakers to consider in the 2011 session.