Utah Division of Wildlife delivers $5,483 payment and outlines habitat-restoration work in Daggett County

Miles Hamburg, a representative of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, presented a payment-in-lieu check for $5,483 to the Daggett County Commission and described recent and planned habitat-restoration work in the county.

Hamburg said the payment represents licensed-sales revenue returned to the county after the state acquired property; he said the amount is approximately $800 higher than prior years due to a recent property acquisition. The funds are derived from license sales by hunters and anglers and are distributed as a form of payment in lieu of property taxes when the state holds land.

Hamburg provided a brochure on the watershed restoration initiative and said statewide in the last year the program completed 48 projects with about $48 million invested across nearly 70,000 acres. In Daggett County he reported just under 2,000 acres were treated during the last year. He said habitat-management planning for the county is expected to start in summer and that the division will reach out to local stakeholders as that planning proceeds.

He also noted a vacancy on the regional advisory council after Brad Orcs (previously a county-elected official serving on the council) no longer holds that local office; Hamburg said the division will solicit interest in March and the seat would begin next August. Hamburg encouraged any interested elected officials to consider applying to fill the seat.

The presentation included updates on state parcels in and near Dutch John and Manila: Hamburg said some division parcels are scheduled for sale or are moving forward through the agency's processes; he recommended follow-up with the division for more detail. He said the division views the county partnership as important for both public access and elk-management objectives.