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Senate approves bill to add thermal-imaging rules and night-hunting definition
Summary
On March 4, 2025, the Utah Senate passed Second Substitute House Bill 309, updating wildlife code to add definitions and oversight for thermal-imaging devices and to require certain wildlife board members to hold hunting licenses.
Second Substitute House Bill 309, titled "Wildlife Amendments," passed the Utah Senate on March 4, 2025, after sponsors described the measure as a cleanup bill that explicitly adds thermal-imaging technology and a night-hunting framework to state wildlife law.
Sponsor Senator McKell, who presented the bill on the Senate floor, said the measure "is a simple bill that adds, a regulatory framework." He said the change was not about casual language around night vision but rather about technology commonly referred to as thermal imaging. "It's just it's more it's more thermal imaging at night," McKell said, adding the bill creates a process for night hunting and inserts definitions for "light enhancement" and "thermal vision" in the code.
Why it matters: The bill adds statutory definitions and oversight language so that newer hunting technologies can be regulated explicitly, and it requires certain wildlife board members to hold a hunting license. McKell told colleagues the intent is to make sure use of thermal-imaging for predator hunting and other nighttime activities is governed consistently and safely.
Key provisions and debate: The sponsor pointed to specific lines in the draft (for example, lines referenced in the floor presentation) that add definitions for technologies and create a process for night hunting. He also noted language (as read on the floor) that a wildlife board member "shall obtain a hunting hunting lisonbee" (as read in the transcript); the bill text placed license requirements for board members in a specified section. No other senators rose for questions during the presentation.
Action and outcome: Under a motion "under suspension of the rules," the Senate voted to pass the bill. The floor announcement recorded that Second Substitute House Bill 309 "having received 25 yay votes, 2 nay votes, 2 being absent, passes this body," and the measure was returned to the House for the speaker's signature.
Next steps: The bill will be signed by the Senate president and returned to the House for the Speaker's signature.
