RALEIGH — The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is inviting citizens to provide input on regular waterfowl hunting seasons through an online comment system.

Regular waterfowl seasons begin in late September and include various seasons for ducks, Canada geese, snow geese, brant and tundra swans.

Beginning this week, citizens can comment on proposed dates for the seasons, by going to www.ncwildlife.org and clicking on “Regular Waterfowl Season Comments!” Comments on the proposed season dates will be accepted until Aug. 17.

“We believe that this system will provide a more efficient and effective means to gather input regarding waterfowl season selections by the North Carolina Wildlife Commission”, said David Cobb, Chief of the Division of Wildlife Management.

Each year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides frameworks from which to choose the seasons, and the Commission selects the actual dates within these guidelines. Public-input meetings have traditionally been held to receive comments on waterfowl seasons.

In previous years, the Commission conducted nine meetings across the state to receive public input on the seasons. However, attendance at these meetings had declined over time and public input was minimal at most locations. As a cost-savings measure and to allow for a relatively easy means for statewide citizen input, the agency has developed the online comment system.

In addition, the Web site will list the federal frameworks from which seasons may be selected, a direct link to a map of North Carolina’s Canada goose hunt zones and a link to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2008 Status of Waterfowl video. The commission used a similar online survey for comments during the early waterfowl and webless migratory game bird hunting seasons.

For more information on migratory game birds in North Carolina, click here.