DECWants Waterfowl Task Force Recommendations

CANTON - If you hunt waterfowl along the St. Lawrence River or any in-land body of water in the county, you can make a recommendation to the regional task force working on setting the dates for the fall 2010 season.

Area hunters are invited to make their opinions known to the regional waterfowl task force members about waterfowl hunting dates, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The recommended dates must be within federal guidelines established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). For fall 2010, DEC expects the USFWS to allow a 60-day duck season, split into no more than two segments per zone, opening no earlier than Sept. 25 and closing no later than Jan. 30.

Area task force members are Potsdam's Pete Barney and Nick McNamara of Rensselaer Falls. You can mail your recommendations to Mr. Barney at 64 Old State Road, Potsdam, N.Y., 13676 or via e-mail at pmb10@cornell.edu. Mr. McNamara's address is 1125 County Route 14, Rensselaer Falls, N.Y., 13680, and he can be called at 344-6580.

Suggestions need to be submitted to task force members on or before March 25. The comment due date is important because the task forces will meet in late March and April and DEC plans to announce tentative duck hunting season dates in June.

St. Lawrence County is part of the Northeastern Zone for waterfowl hunting which extends from the St. Lawrence River east to Lake Champlain. Currently, New York State is broken up in the Western, Northeast, Lake Champlain, Southeast, and Long Island Waterfowl Hunting Zones. Each of the zones has different opening and closing dates for waterfowl hunting.