Salt Lake City — The Utah Wildlife Board approved a few minor changes for bear hunting in Utah, along with other rule amendments, during a public meeting on Thursday.
Bear hunt updates
The first year of the current three-year bear recommendation cycle recently ended. The Utah Wildlife Board approved a few minor changes for the 2026 bear seasons, including:
- Creating a new bear hunt for the new Dolores Triangle hunting unit — and separating it from the La Sal hunting unit — in order to match the current boundaries of big game hunting units.
- Allocating 10 bear permits for the new Dolores Triangle unit, including two spring permits, six summer permits and two fall permits.
- Keeping the La Sal unit bear permit numbers the same.
Bear and cougar populations in Utah remain stable. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources provided information about a new five-year study where targeted cougar removals will occur for the next three years on six hunting units: the Boulder, Monroe, Stansbury, Pine Valley, Wasatch East and Zion. The study aims to assess whether targeted reductions in mountain lion populations can result in a corresponding increase in mule deer populations where deer GPS collar data suggests that mountain lions are suppressing deer population growth.
In addition, starting this year, the guidebooks for cougar, bear and furbearer species will be combined into one book and will only be digitally available. The new, combined guidebook will be available on the DWR website and on the DWR Hunting and Fishing app.
The board also voted to have the DWR look into the feasibility of removing the requirement to have a furbearer license prior to obtaining a bobcat permit.
Updates to cooperative agreements for big game or turkey
The board also approved a new rule that authorizes cooperative agreements with private landowners in order to enhance big game and turkey populations that use private, cultivated lands.
“This rule allows the DWR to enter into proactive, voluntary partnerships with private landowners for managing big game and turkey populations that utilize private cultivated lands,” DWR Private Lands Public Wildlife Coordinator Darren DeBloois said. “This approach is rooted in the recognition that achieving population objectives and enhancing wildlife health often depends on the quality and availability of forage on private property.”
The new rule will provide benefits for both the wildlife and the private landowner through:
- Enhancing populations: The agreements are specifically designed to benefit below-objective big game or turkey populations by incentivizing landowners to manage their crops or livestock forage in a manner conducive to wildlife nutrition.
- Improving forage and nutrition for wildlife: Direct payments to landowners for forage or crops used by wildlife will then increase the forage availability and nutrition for wildlife during critical periods, thereby supporting healthier, more productive herds and flocks.
- Providing an alternative to depredation programs: The new agreement offers an alternative to the existing reactive depredation programs. By entering into an agreement, a landowner allows wildlife to use their crops in exchange for defined compensation and cooperation toward shared management goals. This will allow the DWR to move away from costly, reactionary depredation responses. The agreement will be implemented in lieu of participation in depredation programs.
- Meeting management goals: The agreements mandate that all participating lands must meet defined goals and objectives for wildlife management, ensuring that public funds are used effectively to achieve specific conservation outcomes. Hunter opportunity and herd management: By improving population health and ensuring adequate resources, the program can help reduce female harvest where necessary to promote growth, ultimately leading to sustained populations and an increase in hunter opportunities in the future.
The board also voted to require the DWR to provide an annual report for this program.
Predator control incentive amendments
In 2012, the Utah Legislature passed two predator-related bills. As a result of that, the Predator Control Program was created to control populations of predatory animals that endanger the health of Utah's nonpredatory wildlife. Under this program, the DWR provides incentives to hunters to help control coyote populations by offering $100 for documented coyote harvest in deer habitat and $50 for each documented harvested coyote outside of deer habitat. Coyotes primarily kill deer fawns and can produce more than six pups per year. They have high reproductive potential and can be difficult to hunt.
The wildlife board approved changes to the current rule to specify that the GPS data for predator harvest locations be classified as protected and therefore restricted from public disclosure.
You can watch the full Utah Wildlife Board meeting on the Utah Department of Natural Resources YouTube channel.
