MARQUETTE — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is soliciting applications for open volunteer positions on the Eastern and Western Upper Peninsula Citizens Advisory councils.

The councils are designed to advise the DNR on regional programs and policies, identify areas in which the department can be more effective and responsive, and offer insight and guidance from members’ own experiences and from the public.

A Nov. 30 deadline has been set to apply for membership to either of the two councils. There are several vacancies currently available. Each council meets every other month. Meeting agenda items addressed at council meetings are set by the council members. Council recommendations are forwarded to the DNR for consideration in policy-formation and decision-making processes.

Council members, who are required to have their primary residence located in the U.P., represent a wide variety of natural resource and recreation interest groups or the citizenry at large. Members are selected for the councils based on a variety of factors. The eastern U.P. council includes roughly 20 members, each of whom reside within Alger, Chippewa, Luce, Mackinac or Schoolcraft counties. The western council includes essentially the same number of members who are drawn from the U.P.’s remaining 10 counties lying west of Federal Forest Highway 13.

Application forms and more information about the councils are available online at michigan.gov/upcac or by calling the DNR’s Marquette Customer Service Center at 906-226-1331. Completed applications may be faxed to 906-228-9441, emailed to dahlstromk@michigan.gov, or mailed to DNR (Attn: CAC), 1990 U.S. 41 South, Marquette, MI 49855. For more information, contact DNR Upper Peninsula Regional Coordinator Stacy Welling Haughey at 906-226-1331.