The DFG will again ask the state Fish and Game Commission to approve the 200-permit hunt when it (the commission) adopts waterfowl hunting regulations in late August.

Postcard applications are accepted in advance of the commission's regulation adoption meeting to avoid delays in issuing permits.

To apply, licensed hunters are required to submit their name, address, telephone number and hunting license number on a standard Postal Service postcard and send it to "Canada Goose Hunt;" Department of Fish and Game; 619 Second Street; Eureka, CA 95501. Only one applicant per postcard is permitted and applicants may apply only once per season.

The special, early north coast Canada goose hunt was created four years ago to provide a controlled hunt for Canadas before the annual arrival of the look-alike Aleutian Canada geese. The Aleutians were listed as endangered in 1973, down-listed to "threatened" in 1990 and removed from listing in March 2001.

Last year, the DFG issued permits to 200 hunters who managed to bag a total of 116 Canada geese during the early September hunt.

Fish and Game said it will be reevaluating the north coast Canada goose hunt after this season to determine if the hunt should be modified. Today's limited population of western Canada geese is the result of a bird transplant to the area in the 1980s.