The Division of Wildlife Resources presented a mid-term review of its 2018 bighorn sheep and mountain goat 10-year plans and the regional committee found the plans largely appropriate, with a few additions and updates, the RAC heard.

Why it matters: The plans guide long-term management, reintroductions and disease-prevention coordination with agricultural stakeholders and other partners.

Rusty Robinson said the mid-plan committee reconvened and generally felt both plans were well written and required few changes. Committee updates included revised language to reflect recent state legislation on reintroductions and a requirement to develop unit plans and mitigation plans with local stakeholder committees. The committee added potential release sites to the reintroduction lists, specifically Fremont Island for Rocky Mountain bighorn reintroduction and The Boulder as a potential site for desert bighorn releases, Rusty said.

The review also replaced earlier guidance with the latest Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) wild-sheep initiative guidelines (the presenter said the wild-sheep guidance was rewritten in 2025). The committee added a statement about public involvement when euthanasia is required for herd health or disease outbreak response while noting that herd-health and fair-chase considerations may limit public notification in certain urgent or animal-welfare situations.

On reintroduction capacity, Rusty said Utah is working to build internal nursery inventory for translocations: the desert bighorn nursery at Promontory Point and Antelope Island for Rocky Mountain stock. He said the state has also partnered with Nevada and Arizona in recent years for transplants and would prefer to rely on in-state inventory when possible.

The RAC had questions about how the division prioritizes augmentations versus establishing new reintroduction sites; Rusty explained managers weigh herd objectives, partner requests and current population status and that augmentation from a struggling population would not be prioritized.

The RAC accepted the mid-plan review presentation; a motion to accept the presentation as presented by the division passed unanimously at the meeting. Specific unit-level reintroduction plans and timing were not specified in the mid-plan review presented to the RAC.