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In the decade of the 1960's, winter counts of all Canada geese in the Central Flyway (CF) averaged about 220,000. The average winter count between 1995-1999 was about 1.5 million, an increase of nearly 600 percent. The percent of the total population of Canada geese in the CF from the Great Plains Population, which is the name given by the CF to restoration birds, changed from about 5% to about 20% during a time when all Canada goose populations were increasing.

Canada goose restoration efforts began in the CF as early as 1936 when Nebraska's first captive flock was established. Between 1938 and 1941, captive, breeding flocks were being maintained at four National Wildlife Refuges in North and South Dakota.. Over the next four decades, captive flocks were established in most CF states as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan. At the end of the 20th century, more than 120,000 Canada geese had been released in the Central Flyway as part of restoration efforts. Current breeding population size may be over one million (remembering that both spring and winter counts are really indices to population size).

Recreational use of Canada geese has increased as well. While there is no good estimate of number of "use-days" accumulated by non-hunters associated with increasing numbers of resident geese, harvest has increased significantly. This occurred even though the Flyway kept a fairly tight rein on goose hunting regulations through about 1990, when a gradual liberalization was begun.

In the early 1980's, about 110,000 large Canada geese (52% of the total Canada goose harvest) were harvested in the US portion of the CF along with about 130,000 (65% of total) in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In the late-1990's, the harvest had grown to about 410,000 in the U.S. (70% of total Canada goose harvest) and 168,000 (73%) in Canada. Many of the large Canada geese harvested in the U.S. were "home grown." More detailed data is available in a document recently adopted by the CFC entitled Large Canada Geese in the Central Flyway: Management of Depredation, Nuisance and Human Health and Safety Issues which is available in a PDF file.