Utah
Utah considers changes to ‘very unique’ reward program for reporting poachers
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SALT LAKE CITY — Poaching continues to be a pernicious issue in Utah with over a thousand animals, including dozens of big game, illegally killed every year.
Since there are not enough conservation officers to track and stop it, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources often turns to the public to help poaching report cases. Utah also offers an interesting incentive for hunters who report these types of crimes: permits to legally hunt certain animals.
This is meant to serve as a gesture of gratitude, and it aims to encourage the public, especially hunters, to root out illegal hunting activity, says Wyatt Bubak, the division’s law enforcement section chief.
“This is a very unique permit reward program that not many, if any, other states have,” he said, explaining the program in a video the division uploaded on Tuesday. “It’s something that we rely on heavily here in Utah and has been really productive in encouraging reports of poaching incidents.”
However, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is now seeking to make changes to when and where permits are issued, and they want to offer more protection for parties who report violations in an effort to improve the reward. If approved by the Utah Wildlife Board, the changes would take effect next year.
The division currently offers big game, bear, cougar and turkey permits as rewards when cases reach a successful prosecution. As much as about a dozen of these are issued every year and are often for “highly sought after” hunting units or species, according to Bubak.
Yet he says the wording is vague beyond that, which opens up some issues. For example, it indicates a hunter can essentially only receive one reward even if they successfully report multiple cases.
Under the proposed changes, the division could issue a reward permit to someone for a “nearby or similar” hunting unit, for a different species or offer a voucher. This would offer a way to protect the identities of a hunter who reports a case while still encouraging hunters to report possible poaching cases, Buback explains. These would be somewhat transferrable, though they would not be allowed to be sold.
“It makes it so their identification can be better protected by allowing someone to get a voucher that they can then give to an immediate family member as a result of them reporting a poacher. (It’s) one of those options,” he said. “(It can) provide protections in identity, but reward individuals for taking the substantial risk of reporting a poacher in some instances.”
The changes would allow for premium limited-entry or once-in-a-lifetime permits to individuals who report multiple poaching cases. The unlawful take of a trophy animal would also be considered a “permit-eligible violation.”
The division would also remove cougar permits as a reward, as a state law that removes the need for a specific tag to hunt cougars went into effect earlier this year. Conservation groups filed a lawsuit over that law last month.
The Utah Wildlife Board is tentatively scheduled to vote on whether or not to approve the proposed changes during its meeting on Jan. 4, 2024. There are a handful of regional meetings scheduled between Dec. 5 and Dec. 14 before that.
People can provide public comments on the proposal during all of those meetings. They can also submit written comments on the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources website through the end of Dec. 21.