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Board narrowly keeps proposal to allow sale of green mountain‑lion pelts on a trial basis
Summary
The board approved the division’s cougar recommendations, including a trial period permitting sale of green (untanned) pelts and allowing claws to remain attached to hides; the board declined at this meeting to expand sales to detached skulls and bones.
The Utah Wildlife Board on Jan. 9 approved the Division of Wildlife Resources’ cougar-rule changes (R657-10) that include a trial allowance to sell green (untanned) mountain-lion pelts and to permit claws attached to hides to be sold. The board set the change as a trial period and asked staff to monitor impacts.
Background and division recommendation The division proposed allowing sale of untanned pelts and clarified that claws may be sold attached to hides; this would align formal rule language with current practice in some cases where frozen pelts and skulls have been sold at state auctions or through private channels.
Why it mattered Comments were split. Supporters — including hunting and trapping groups and some producers — argued using more of the carcass is better stewardship and provides economic value. Opponents, including wildlife-advocacy organizations and some members of the public, argued that permitting sales could create market incentives to increase take and risk further declines in cougar populations. They cited concerns about a high percentage of females in the harvest and other signals of population vulnerability.
Board decision and conditions The board voted to adopt the division’s proposal with a two‑year trial period for green pelts and the technical clarification that claws attached to hides may be sold. The board did not adopt broader proposals to legalize sale of detached skulls or other body parts at this time; members asked the division to monitor harvest composition and population trends and report back.
Follow-up and monitoring The division will track age and sex composition of the hunter take, monitor any changes in harvest levels, and report on the trial’s outcomes.
