Utah Division of Wildlife shifts Blue Ribbon outreach calendar after dicey ice, adds social campaigns and spring surveys

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Blue Ribbon Fisheries Advisory Council on Jan. 10 reviewed the division’s 2025 outreach priorities and events, removing a planned ice‑fishing promotion because of unsafe ice and shifting emphasis to social media, targeted promotions and creel survey results in spring.

Faith Heaton Jolley, public information officer for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, told the council the division “agreed that we would scrap that 1” — an ice‑fishing news release originally planned for January — because of “dicey ice conditions this year.” Jolley said staff will instead promote Blue Ribbon fisheries in February with social posts tied to Valentine’s Day and run safety messaging about ice conditions that already went out in December.

The council’s nut graf: outreach staff and regional biologists aim to balance safety messaging and promotion. The division plans to use a mix of short social campaigns, news releases and blog posts to promote fisheries and events…