People Sought To Influence Wildlife Policy; Could It Be You?

Would you like to have an impact on Wildlife policy in Utah? Well, you may now have that opportunity. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has announced that several positions will soon be opening on all five Regional Advisory Councils that share public feedback with the Utah Wildlife Board.

The five Regional Advisory Councils each consist of 12 to 15 members. This is a volunteer position, so if you're looking for a paid gig, this is not it. Each member of a RAC can serve up to four years. You would be expected to attend all meetings of the RAC, which typically happen six times each year. During those meetings, you would be discussing proposals that have been previously reviewed by DWR biologists concerning hunting, fishing and general wildlife management in Utah.

You would also review input and feedback submitted by the public online prior to the meeting. RAC meetings usually last several hours and are held in the evenings in the middle days of the week. RAC members vote on the proposals and public input, then the chairman for the RAC will take the recommendations to the Utah Wildlife Board.

Members of that board then discuss the input from the Regional Advisory Councils, then they vote to decide how wildlife is managed here in the state of Utah. Meeting can be attended virtually, as needed. Statewide, there are fourteen RAC postilions open for public nomination.

Here in the Southern Region, the RAC is looking for one agriculture representative, one public at large representative, one sportsmen representative and one representative from those who don't hunt or fish.

To fill a vacancy, you must live in the region of the state that you want to represent. If you want to represent the public at large, you must contact a group in your community and ask them to nominate you. Town councils, recreational groups among others have nominate public at large members in the past.

If you want to fill one of the other positions on the RAC, you must contact a local conservation group to nominate you. For example, if you wanted to be the sportsmen representative, you would have to contact a Utah hunting or conservation group and ask them to nominate you.

Nominations are going on now, and will be accepted through May 31^st. New members of Regional Advisory Councils will start their unpaid service during July or August RAC meetings. If you would like to get more information, or would like to apply or nominate someone visit wildlife.Utah.gov.