Photo: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Nov. 2, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) – The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is proposing changes to its moose hunting permits, officials said Tuesday.
“Due to the increased public interest in moose hunting – and to avoid overloading their permit sales system – the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is proposing to add general season elk permits to large game education for a year,” said a press release. “In recent years, these permits have been sold online and without a prescription. The public can provide feedback on this and other suggestions on the DWR website. “
The general season for all bull elk and spike bull elk permits has grown in popularity over the past three years. In 2019, all 15,000 permits sold out in 11 days, while in 2020 the 15,000 permits sold out in eight hours. This was also a record year of sales for hunting and fishing permits in Utah. This year the 17,500 permits were sold out within 10 hours.
“The increased demand for these permits has over the past two years overloaded the license sales system, resulting in slower turnaround times and a frustrating customer experience,” said Lindy Varney, wildlife licensing coordinator at DWR. “Our current contract sales system works well for the rest of the year, but these ‘sales days’ for the elk tickets create a rush of purchases that overloads the system a few days a year. We worked with our contractor to resolve some of the technical issues, including expanding the database capacity. “
In an effort to allay some of that frustrations in the meantime, the DWR recommends adding bull elk and spiny elk permits to big game breeding during the general season rather than selling permits online or over-the-counter-year trial period.
“During this year-long trial, we will evaluate the pros and cons of the current system versus incorporating the permits into big game herd,” said Varney. “We’ll also be working with the National Elk Committee to improve the approval process. Then we will recommend a long-term solution in 2022, which we hope will alleviate our customers’ problems in recent years. “
The public comment period opened on November 2 for each of the five Regional Council meetings and for the Utah Wildlife Board meeting. Public comments submitted within the online comment periods listed below will be shared with the RAC and Wildlife Board members at each respective meeting. The public can choose to watch the meetings online or attend in person. If you would like to comment during the meeting, be sure to be there in person – online comments are only accepted up to the deadlines listed below.
The meetings take place on the following dates and times:
- RAC meeting in Central Utah: November 9th at 6pm at the DWR Springville Office at 1115 N. Main St. in Springville. (Online comments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on November 4th)
- RAC meeting in Northern Utah: November 10 at 6 p.m. in the Weber County Commission Chambers, 2380 Washington Blvd. # 240 in Ogden. (Online comments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on November 4th)
- RAC meeting in Southern Utah: November 16 at 6 p.m. at the Hunter Conference Center, Charles Hunter Room, Southern Utah University, 405 W. University Blvd. in cedar town. (Online comments must be submitted by 11:59 pm on November 11th)
- RAC meeting in southeastern Utah: November 17th at 6:30 pm at the John Wesley Powell Museum at 1765 E. Main St. in Green River. (Online comments must be submitted by 11:59 pm on November 11th)
- RAC meeting in northeastern Utah: 11/18 at 6.30 p.m. at DWR Vernal Office, 318 N. Vernal Ave. (Online comments must be submitted by 11.11. At 11:59 p.m.)
- Utah Wildlife Board Meeting: December 2nd at 9 a.m. at the Eccles Wildlife Education Center on 1157 South Waterfowl Way in Farmington. (Online comments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on November 22nd)
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