Utah Supreme Court hears challenge to HB 469 and scope of constitutional "right to hunt and fish"

At oral argument before the Utah Supreme Court, counsel for the Mountain Lion Foundation and Western Wildlife Conservancy asked the court to reverse a district-court dismissal of their challenge to House Bill 469, arguing the 2020 constitutional amendment guaranteeing a ‘‘right to hunt and fish’’ includes a preservation mandate that bars statutes that do not promote wildlife conservation or preserve hunting for future generations.

Jessica Bloom, counsel for the appellants, told the court that the 2020 amendment must be read to protect not only an individual's right to hunt but also the availability of game and habitat needed "to forever preserve wildlife in the state ... for the public good." Bloom said HB 469 repealed nearly all statutory and regulatory controls over cougar hunting and resulted in "the unlimited and nearly unregulated year-round killing of cougars in the state of Utah from January 1 to December 31," an outcome she argued is inconsistent with the constitutional preservation and conservation provisions. Bloom said her clients alleged in the complaint that the statutory change and the Wildlife Resources Board's implementing actions likely would "result in the extirpation of mountain lions from the state or at least significantly diminish the availability…