Some of the best wildfowl art in the nation has been showing up at the Washington Civic Center for several years as part of the North Carolina Waterfowl Conservation Stamp competition.

Yet few people show up at the public competition to view the art. That’s a shame. The majority of entries are beautiful, with many of them breathtaking.

But the competition is more than just about picking the entry that will serve as the artwork for the 2013 duck stamp, the informal name of the Waterfowl Conservation Stamp.

Revenue from sales of duck-stamp prints and stamps go to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Waterfowl Fund, which provides money for the conservation of waterfowl habitat in North Carolina. The fund has raised more than $4.2 million since its inception.

“The money is used to help North Carolina meet its financial obligations in implementing the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, the international agreement helping restore waterfowl populations throughout the continent. In addition, funds have been used to support waterfowl research and to buy equipment used to manage wetlands,” according to the commission’s website.

Those programs and services our worthy of support.