You Have Until March 30 to Help Decide How Wildlife is Managed in Utah

Your chance to help decide how Utah’s wildlife is managed is almost over. March 30 is the last day a group can nominate you to serve on one of Utah’s five wildlife Regional Advisory Councils.

You can download a RAC nomination form at https://go.usa.gov/YuQ. Nomination forms are also available at any DWR office.

Each RAC holds about 10 meetings a year to listen to proposals from the Division of Wildlife Resources about hunting, fishing and wildlife management in Utah.В  The RACs also take input from the public about the proposals. After voting on which proposals each RAC prefers, the chairperson for that RAC presents its recommendations to the Utah Wildlife Board. Members of the board consider the input. Then the board makes the final decision regarding wildlife management in Utah.

The RAC meetings usually last from three to five hours.В  The meetings are held in the evenings, usually on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night.

RAC members represent one of six interests: hunters, anglers and trappers; people who don’t hunt or fish; ranchers and farmers; locally-elected public officials; federal land managing agencies; and the public-at-large.

To fill one of the upcoming vacancies, you must live in the region of the state you wish to represent.В  Also, no later than March 30, the following must happen:

• If you want to represent the public at large, you must contact a group in your community and ask them to nominate you.В  Examples of groups that have nominated people in the past include political groups, small town councils, animal sanctuary committees and recreational groups. The group that nominates you must submit their nomination by March 30.
• If you want to fill one of the other five positions on the RAC, you must contact the proper conservation group or organization in your region and ask that they nominate you to fill the vacancy you’d like to fill. For example, if you want to fill a sportsmen vacancy, you must contact a Utah sportsmen group and ask them to nominate you for the vacancy.

Nominating groups and organizations must submit their nominations by March 30. To learn about wildlife or conservation groups in your area, contact the nearest DWR office.

For more information, contact the nearest DWR office or Staci Coons, the DWR’s Wildlife Board/RAC coordinator, at (801) 538-4718 or via e-mail at stacicoons@utah.gov.