Join Michigan DNR team for short-term, part-time or full-time work

Whether you are hoping to dip your toes into a new field, seeking a summer gig or ready to share years of comprehensive experience, the DNR has job opportunities available throughout the state.

This spring, we’re looking for:

  • More than 1,300 summer park workers and many seasonal park rangers.
  • 30 seasonal park interpreters to lead activities and present fun programs tied to each park’s unique natural and cultural resources as part of the explorer guide program.
  • Dozens of nature educators who can deliver engaging, hands-on programming for K-12 students at visitor centers and for the Nature Awaits fourth grade field trip program.

For many, working with the DNR is a unique and rewarding experience. Whether the duties are in an office, in the field or on the water, it’s about helping people connect with and enjoy our state’s natural resources and outdoor stories! Get a glimpse of several DNR positions (including park interpreter and park ranger) in the Michigan DNR Careers video playlist.

All DNR jobs

In addition to these opportunities, there are postings for positions such as license sales technician, marketing strategist and fisheries census

Sportsmen’s Alliance Sues Washington Fish and Wildlife for Delay on Public Records

Washington Fish and Wildlife Slow-Walks Public Records Request for 16 Months

Today, Jan. 28, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation sued the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in state superior court for the department’s withholding of public records in violation of the state’s public records act (PRA). The Sportsmen’s Alliance initially sought public records in September 2023 pertaining to the business of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, and the department has yet to deliver even a tiny fraction of the documents it identified as relevant to the Sportsmen’s Alliance’s request.

“Over 500 days have passed, and we’ve received less than 0.01% of the documents the department identified as relevant to our request,” said Dr. Todd Adkins, Senior Vice President at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “Instead, we’ve been consistently strung along, with delivery promised by ever-extending deadlines. Which begs the question – what is the agency hiding? It’s no wonder the state’s sportsmen and women have little confidence in this process.”

On November 18, 2022, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission held a meeting at which it voted to cancel spring bear hunts. The vote came as a surprise to the Sportsmen’s Alliance and Washington hunters, as the meeting’s agenda gave no indication that a cancellation vote would be considered by the commission. Ultimately, spring bear hunting in Washington was canceled without providing sportsmen the opportunity to provide meaningful comments.

The Sportsmen’s Alliance suspected that members of the commission had violated open public meeting laws that would have allowed members of the public, including the Sportsmen’s Alliance and its members, to know that such a momentous vote was about to happen. The surprise vote raised concerns that members of the commission had routinely engaged in private communications among themselves concerning commission activities, meetings and votes. In order to investigate the activities of the commission leading up to the meeting and vote, the Sportsmen’s Alliance sought public records under the PRA.

Washington’s PRA requires the department to compile, and release, requested records in a reasonable amount of time. At its current rate in processing our request, the department will take 1,975,034 days, or over 5,411 years, to produce the responsive records. Unfortunately, this comes as no surprise. We’ve heard from sportsmen throughout Washington who wait for months and even years to get a response to their own requests.

“The department’s PRA request system is broken, and we’re hopeful our lawsuit results in a voluntary or mandatory fix,” said Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel at the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “In the meantime, however, we are asking the court to compel the release of the public records we’ve lawfully requested in order to hold the commission accountable for any statutory missteps it may have taken.” Read more

Michigan- Waterfowl hunters: Protect Yourself, Domestic Animals from Bird Flu

Simple health and safety precautions can limit the spread of HPAI

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources reminds late-season goose hunters to protect themselves and domestic animals amid ongoing cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza. Commonly known as “bird flu,” HPAI is a highly contagious respiratory disease that causes sickness and sometimes death in birds and mammals. Since December 2024, there has been an uptick in HPAI wild bird mortality, primarily in Canada geese, trumpeter swans and scavenging birds.

“While waterfowl hunters are much more likely to encounter wild birds, it’s important for all Michiganders to understand the health risks that bird flu can pose to wildlife, humans and domestic animals,” said Mitch Marcus, DNR Wildlife Health supervisor. “The virus has been identified in Michigan’s wild birds and mammals, as well as domestic cats, dairy cattle and poultry.”

Risks to humans Read more

NSSF Celebrates $1.3 Billion to States for Wildlife Conservation

NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, celebrates the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) announcement that $1.3 billion is being delivered to state conservation and wildlife access programs. The distribution of funds is derived from the Pittman-Robertson excise taxes paid by firearm and ammunition manufacturers and Dingell-Johnson excise taxes paid by the angling industry.

A total of $886,499,121 of the $1.3 billion of those funds are directly sourced from firearm and ammunition excise taxes paid by manufacturers. Firearm and ammunition manufacturers have paid over $29 billion into the fund since its inception in 1937, when adjusted for inflation. These funds directly contribute to wildlife conservation through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and provide funding for conservation programs, increased access to public lands and hunter education.

“The firearm industry is tremendously proud of the contributions we make to conserving our wildlife and the habitats wildlife need to thrive for generations to come,” said NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi. “Our industry is at the forefront of wildlife conservation. Each time a recreational shooter or hunter purchases a firearm or ammunition, they are helping to support wildlife conservation through the excise taxes paid by our industry on the sale of those products. The American model of conservation funding is the gold standard throughout the world for sustainable conservation and wildlife management.”

The excise tax is set at 11 percent of the wholesale price for long guns and ammunition and 10 percent of the wholesale price for handguns. Read more

Traverse City State Park Campground to Close for $8.5 Million in Enhancements

A massive $8.5 million investment will help transform Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park, enhancing the visitor experience with improved access, new camping amenities and modern facilities.

The funds are part of a $273 million boost in federal American Rescue Plan relief funding that has enabled the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to tackle a decades-long backlog of infrastructure and rehabilitation projects in state parks and trails. The funding, secured through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and aligned with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Building Michigan Together Plan, will also support the construction of a new state park in Flint (Genesee County).

The enhancements, a direct result of stakeholder and public feedback through the park’s 2021 general management plan, include: Read more

MDARD Completes 2024 Spotted Lanternfly Tracking Efforts Across Michigan

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a variety of local and regional organizations, has completed its 2024 spotted lanternfly monitoring efforts. Throughout the summer and fall, teams across Michigan worked collaboratively to monitor and track the spread of this invasive pest, resulting in new detections in Macomb and Lenawee counties, as well as new findings in previously affected areas.

“We are grateful to our partners for their ongoing work helping us monitor the spread of spotted lanternfly in Michigan,” said Steve Carlson, MDARD’s Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division Director. “This collaboration allows us to collect critical data on new infestations which helps better understand how this pest is spreading across the state.” Read more

Biden Administration Denies SAF Petitions to Delist/Downlist Wolves

January 7, 2025

Roadmap To Successfully Remove Wolves from the ESA Tossed Aside by FWS

Today, Jan. 7, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation received “not-warranted” findings as a politically motivated farewell folly from the Biden administration on two Endangered Species Act petitions requesting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) delist gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes and downlist West Coast wolves to threatened.

The petitions serve as a blueprint for successfully delisting Western Great Lakes wolves and downlisting West Coast wolves in accordance with prior court decisions. The agency, however, in an unsurprising move to ignore a durable solution and good science, chose to wrongfully merge and deny the petitions as a whole to circumvent their own “may be warranted” finding on the petition to delist gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes.

“These denials couldn’t provide a clearer representation of what every day Americans have come to loathe from a federal government that plays politics instead of addressing their needs,” said Dr. Todd Adkins, Senior Vice President at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “Our petition to delist Great Lakes wolves is bulletproof, and the agency recognizes that. Yet, the administration couldn’t stomach making the correct decision, so they used smoke and mirrors to carry on the illusion that gray wolves still need ESA protections.”
Read more

RMEF Helps Expand Idaho Wildlife Refuge, Benefits Elk, Mule Deer, Fish & Hundreds of Bird Species

MISSOULA, Mont. — The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation collaborated with a private landowner and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to acquire and convey 2,496 acres of wildlife and riparian habitat to expand the Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in southeast Idaho.

USFWS documented almost 250 species of birds on the high elevation bullrush marsh, of which about 100 species are known to nest there. It is also home to one of the largest breeding concentrations of sandhill cranes in North America.

“This speaks volumes to what RMEF is all about. Our mission is to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage,” said RMEF Chief Conservation Officer Blake Henning. “The refuge with this newly added waterfront parcel helps so many species of ‘other wildlife,’ like birds, small mammals and fish, but it also serves as summer range and critical birthing grounds for elk and mule deer.” Read more

Grizzly Bears to Remain Protected

GW: What good are recovery goals?

Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) denied two petitions from Montana and Wyoming to delist grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide Ecosystems. This denial comes a day after the USFWS denied Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation’s petitions to delist wolves in the Western Great Lakes.

Like the gray wolf, the grizzly bear is no stranger to Endangered Species Act (ESA) litigation. Grizzlies in the lower-48 states were first protected under the ESA in 1975. They were subsequently divided into several Distinct Population Segments. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem bears, which exist in portions of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, were given a recovery population goal of 500. The current estimated population is around 1,000. These bears were delisted under the George W. Bush administration in 2007. That delisting was overturned by the courts. They were delisted again in 2017, under a rulemaking that spanned the Obama and Trump administrations. That was again overturned by the courts in 2020.

The Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem bears exist in northern Montana. Their recovery goal is a population of at least 800 bears. Their population is currently estimated to be over 1,100. Read more

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